What Sorrow Craves Acquaintance At My Hand?
by MikaHaeli8
Summary: Sequel to "The Fire..."; 3rd part of the Blood Ties trilogy. Son in one hand, gun in the other, Jakuelynn's life is almost perfect but even she is surprised at how far she goes to keep that balance when disorder comes calling once again. M for later.
1. Prologue: Ground Zero

**Title: What Sorrow Craves Acquaintance At My Hand?**

**Subtitle: The Heart of (Jakuelynn) Mar.**

**Summary: Son in one hand, gun in the other, Jakuelynn's life is almost perfect but even she is surprised at how far she goes to maintain that balance when disorder comes calling once again. Rating may change; covers many genres.**

**Rating: T for language/ violence.**

**Please R&R. As always, it's important. ~ Mika**

All I saw was light. Bright light.

Not the light of Light Eco and certainly not the light I'd just witnessed; the light that had knocked me to the sand far, far away from where I was standing just a minute ago; the light that burned everything. A different light filled my vision. Real light.

And him. A merciful sight, given the sorry circumstances I found myself in. He stood over me, gun in hand, eyes creased in sorrow. Not knowing what to do. Not knowing which side to select of the choice I had just given him. Either way it was difficult for one or both of us, depending on the choice he made.

"Please!" I rasped, black now clouding the cold, white light in my eyes. The black joined with the silhouette of the man by my body.

He said something. Tears flowed from his eyes and down his cheeks. All I could think was, _this isn't right. He never cries. He never allows himself to cry so publicly._ Although, I reasoned with myself, this Precursors-forsaken place could hardly be called "public", the burning hot climate uninhabitable for anybody, no matter how many brain cells they had; no matter how brave they were.

Speaking of burning, my whole body was on fire, no thanks to the light that had sent me here. Pain sliced my veins, and I thought fretfully of my children. My babies. If I didn't survive this, neither would they, but I didn't have a chance.

I thought of _him_, the other man in my life. _Baby, I'm so sorry._ Tears slipped down my cheeks, sizzling as they hit the sand. My life leaked out from under me. _I'm sorry it stops here._

Meanwhile, the man in front of me raised the gun, the laser beam resting on my forehead. He's made his choice. His finger curled on the trigger like a lover's hand. I knew that finger, calloused from years of sorrow and hardship.

"I love you," he choked.

"I love you t-too." It's getting cold. So cold, despite all the heat, all the pain. He has to end this, and end it now.

_He's_ safe, and that's all that matters.

The man by my side fires, and I see nothing. Feel nothing. Hear nothing.

_How did I get here? _I wonder.

How indeed.


	2. For the First Time

_**One Season (three months) earlier.**_

The young woman crossed the large chamber, the glowing white orb of matter in a goblet, right in the centre of the chamber. She stopped before it, lifting her velvet-blue eyes in reverence and respect to it, her breathing calmly controlled.

"Speak!" the orb demanded in a powerful, authoritative, deep voice that trembled through the young woman like sound turned up too high.

"The oracle has been consulted," the woman said, her voice trembling. Despite the desert heat, she herself was trembling, again out of equal parts reverence and fear. "It tells of a boy with the powers of many and the purity of Light balancing Dark within his blood. It told me that this boy would eventually make the fateful choice to destroy the world or destroy all evil within the world."

There was a pause before the Voice spoke again. "Is there any more on this boy?"

"Yes," the woman said, nervously. "He is of the House of Mar, and as I understand, the heir to the thrones of Spargus and Sandover Cities in the South. There will be another decade plus four years before he could ascend to those thrones, should he choose to – "

"Naturally," the Voice cut in smoothly.

" – but this boy remains a problem."

"And his mother will not give him up easily," the Voice mused.

The young woman chuckled. "Oh Precursors, no, she wouldn't. I think the ancient phrase "over her dead body" would be highly appropriate."

There was a long, long stretch of silence before the Voice spoke. "Then there is only one thing to do to claim this boy."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You don't mean...?"

"Yes, Hara'in," the Voice said, chuckling. "I do mean this."

The woman the Voice called Hara'in narrowed her eyes, thanking Mar that the Voice did not also have eyes, ears or indeed a body at her physical reaction. Was the Voice inferring that the child should be _stolen_, taken from his mother as was his grandfather from his father over fifty years ago? It was wrong...immoral to do so.

Besides, if what the prophecy said was true, then the child's powers were something to be...explored. Maybe he would be useful for experiments, should their currently-building equipment be up and running by the time they brought the child here. If his heritage was anything to go by and as said before, if the prophecy was entirely correct, then his powers would indeed be many, and great as well.

"He's...just a boy. A mere toddler,"

"No matter!" the Voice replied airily. "We must stop the boy and his mother; destroy them if necessary. That prophecy _must_ and _will_ not come true. Do you understand me, Hara'in? Well? Do you?"

"Yes, Voice of Many, I understand completely!" the woman stammered. "We must take the boy. We must take him soon, and keep him separate from his mother."

"We must prevent the prophecy from coming true," the Voice said slowly.

"We must – _above all else_ – keep the prophecy from coming true," Hara'in repeated slowly, her breathing scarce.

"Above all else," the Voice agreed. If it could smile, it would have. "Now go. Find the child. Bring him to me. Moreover, bring him to me _alive_ and unscarred. Bring Chenka with you too."

"_Chenka?_" Hara'in exclaimed, incredulously. "But Chenka is dangerous! He will hurt the child, guaranteed!"

"Which is why you must stop him," the Voice countered smoothly. "Chenka is a good fighter – a straightforward talker."

"He's a bloodhound –!"

"DO not question me!" The Voice demanded. "Go now. Take Chenka. Take the child. Bring him here. We must see if he is indeed the child in the prophecy."

Hara'in bowed and swept out of the room, her heart in turmoil. She knew exactly what they would do to the child if he did prove to be the one in the prophecy.

She didn't like it one bit.

~x~

_**Sandover City**_

The tall, muscular woman grimaced with pain as she raised and lowered her left forearm five times before, upon pure instinct, switching to her right forearm. The mechanics in her left forearm whirred and clunked as they reacted to and against the flexing muscle, causing the warrioress much pain. She had been entirely human until just two years ago, when a disastrous accident involving Dark Eco crates had meant she'd had to replace most of her entire left side with metal and wire.

On the plus side, it meant she had added to her natural strength, which was already enough to form her reputation. On the minus side, it took a damn long time for her to get back to her normal state.

A soft padding of footsteps alerted her to the door. She massaged her aching forearm before lowering it, turning her head towards the sound, smiling when she recognised the little figure at the door.

"Rufas, darling. It's okay, come in."

Rufas Day Mar Ghosten was now approaching his fourth birthday – way too quickly, in his mother's opinion. He had inherited his mother's Channelling abilities and his father's clairvoyant ones, though nobody besides Jakuelynn and Jak knew this, for reasons regarding Rufas' safety. After all, being the heir to Sandover and Spargus was enough reason for kidnap and ransom, let alone his powers. Not even Rhogan, Jakuelynn's boyfriend and City Leader, knew of the boy's powers.

Rufas toddled over to his mother and tried to haul himself onto his mother's lap. She chuckled and helped him, swinging on the swivel chair gently. Over the past two years, she had learned to estimate her own strength and she put this into practice with her family and Rhogan.

The little boy snuggled against his mother's body as she gently swivelled back and forth awkwardly, trying to wordlessly coax him into having a nap. He hadn't been sleeping well recently; visions flooding into his mind had prevented them. Despite the fact he was not talking yet, he had conveyed them to his mother in many different ways. Nearly all of them were about herself, Jak or Rhogan and half of them were very negative indeed. Even Jakuelynn had been disturbed by what he'd seen.

She hummed a melody to him, an old Sandover Village lullaby she'd heard Jak humming to Rufas many times. It always soothed him, taking him to a place neither mother nor son had never known; of sand, sea and freedom, of community; a place that felt like home. She stopped when Rufas' steady breathing reached her ears. Standing up, she carried him next door and laid him gently down in his bed, brushing a lock of black hair off his face before leaving, clicking the door shut behind her.

"He's finally asleep then?" a rough, aged, male voice greeted her.

_Jak_, she thought, having taken her by surprise. "Yes," she replied, "although, mind you, if he sleeps now, he won't sleep later..." She unconsciously rubbed her arm, trailing off in thought.

Her father frowned. Jakuelynn was different today, quieter than usual. "Everything okay, Nel?"

She looked up. "Today...it's...four years since Deimin..."

He nodded, conveying that he understood. His daughter screwed up her face, fighting the emotion within. Even though she was happy with Rhogan, Jak had the feeling she hadn't fully gotten over Deimin, nor did he think that she ever truly would. Hell, it had been almost thirty years since Keira died in his arms and he still missed her with a hurt as fresh as the day that had happened.

"I'm going...I'm going to go and see him before Rhogan comes," she said, diving down the stairs before Jak opened his mouth. He heard the door slam and sighed, descending the stairs as fast as his legs could take him.

**A/N: Long-arse chapter that explains nothing, n****è? It should become clear soon. Read and review, please :) ~ Mika**


	3. Second Heartbeat

_**A few hours later**_

"Rufas! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

The young woman paced around the room, pretending she didn't know that her four-year old son was hidden behind the large, dark green armchair.

"Where is that little scamp? He's disappeared!" Jakuelynn threw her arms out as mock-dramatically as the tone of her voice. "I don't know where he could be! Rhogan, do you have any idea?"

"Absolutely not, Mummy. I can't think!" Rhogan Tornerò Praxis replied in the equally dramatic tone. The couple smiled at each other as a little giggle emerged from behind the large armchair.

Jakuelynn gasped. "Did you hear that?"

"What, Mummy?" Rhogan replied, really hamming it up. He grinned as he crept towards the large armchair. "What was I meant to hear?"

Another little giggle emerged from the back of the armchair.

"That! That little giggle! Did you know armchairs could giggle, Rhogan?"

"No, I didn't," the City Leader replied, barely suppressing a grin. "Although I suppose it has a lot to do _wiiiith_..." He bent down and swooped up a little boy in his hands. "_This_ little worm here!" He tickled the little boy's belly, chuckling as he squirmed and let out a loud laugh that lifted his mother's heart. Rhogan gently put little Rufas on the ground and he ran straight to his mother, arms open wide.

"Oh, _there_ you are, Rufas Day!" Jakuelynn gasped, swooping him up in her scarred, tanned and calloused hands. She sat him on her hip, jiggling about to some strange imaginary tune that only she could hear. "Where did you go?"

Rufas pointed to behind the large armchair, still not saying a word. When Jakuelynn had taken him to a professional, he had told her not to worry about it; that every child developed differently. Jakuelynn, however, knew about her father not uttering a word until he was seventeen and had secretly worried that Rufas would follow the same path.

"Over _there?_" Jakuelynn opened her mouth in comical surprise, her free hand to her heart. "Rufas Day Mar Ghosten, you're _very_ good at hiding. You even fooled Rhogan! Didn't he, Rhogan?"

"Oh yes, he did. It took me _ages_ and _ages_ to find him!" Rhogan nodded exaggeratedly as Rufas fixed his large dark eyes on him. "I'm deadly serious, Rufas."

"No, Rhogan, don't be serious!" Jakuelynn said. "This is no time to be serious. It's time to have _fun_, isn't it, Roo?"

Her son nodded, fixing his eyes on his mother's face. A look came over them that Jakuelynn recognised; it was the same look Deimin used to have before he had a vision. It was only when he was two years old and Jakuelynn had been home that she had noticed The Look descend over her son's eyes. She worried then because it was remarkably early; Deimin's visions had not started until he reached puberty.

"Back in a minute, Rho," she said hurriedly, taking her son to another room. He would often show her what he'd seen, but not until they were all alone, otherwise he would refuse. She set him down on the ground and knelt down to his level.

"Tell me, Rufas. What have you seen?" she said gently, no urgency in her voice.

Rufas bit his lip and knelt down, looking straight at the spot where Jakuelynn's body was bent in an attempt to reach his level. He stretched an arm out and tentatively reached forward until he was touching her stomach. He laid his entire hand on it, keeping it there for five seconds exactly before bringing it back with two fingers held up.

Jakuelynn looked at her son, confused.

"Rufas...I..." She shrugged, lost for words.

Rufas frowned, repeating the same actions again. He stared at his mother for a long time whilst she tried to work it out.

"You're saying...I'm going to have a baby?"

Rufas nodded, keeping two fingers facing her.

"Two babies?" Jakuelynn yelped in astonishment as her son nodded, silently confirming this. She had been in a relationship with Rhogan for over three years but they had never talked about anything long term or serious. Rhogan, like herself, had come from a volatile home life; one supposes seeing your mother murdered by her long-lost twin sister would mess you up for life, especially with regards to marriage choices. The relationship between himself and Jak was still tense, partly owing to what the Praxis family had done to the Mar family over the past two or three generations. Rhogan had legally changed his surname some years ago, dropping it completely; after all, in Sandover, having the surname "Praxis" now meant that people thought you were going to torture or kill them.

Jakuelynn stood up, taking her son's hand as they went back to the living room. Rufas ran to his grandfather, who smiled at Jakuelynn before disappearing with Rufas to the grassy cliff outside the back of the house.

"Nel, are you okay? You look like you've received bad news," Rhogan said gently, his hands on Jakuelynn's shoulders, his icy blue eyes locked onto hers.

Jakuelynn shook her head and smiled, wrapping her arms around Rhogan. "No, Rho. Everything's fine," she assured him, giving him a little kiss.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. If there was, I'd double-check it and let you know." Jakuelynn chuckled lightly.

Rhogan smiled, kissing her back, though a little harder and certainly more suggestive than the warrioress' own.

~x~

The chrome vehicle pulled up to the gates of Sandover City, slowing to a chugging halt as the gates automatically opened. The driver shook his head, wondering how the city had become so trusting in the last few years. Though he supposed with the high-quality defences the city had in case of emergency, which had been put into action less than half a decade ago upon the threat of attack on the city.

He pulled in and left his car in the nearest space available. He had seven hours before he had to perform the mission he'd been sent on. Idly, he wondered what he could do to pass the time. This was a relatively big city from what he'd heard; there would surely be something to do.

Seven hours at the minimum.

He smiled and went on his way.

**A/N: Oooooohhh! R&R please, always appreciated. ^_^ ~ Mika**


	4. Third Time's The Charm

_**Night-time**_

The first thing Jakuelynn Mar Hagai, Sandover City protector and far down in line to the throne heard upon her father and Daxter returning from a "little spin, just to blow off the dust" (or so Jak said) was the sizzle of Daxter's fur as he slid on his knees across the shiny, newly-polished wooden floor towards the young woman, a large, teeth-revealing grin on his face.

"...ah!" he said as he came to a half just by the named woman's size fifteens. She put her spanner down and rested her goggles on her forehead, standing up, putting her hands on her hips and fixing Daxter with a 'What do you WANT?' stare.

"Ahehe. OW!" Daxter hissed as he got to his feet, dusting himself up. He put his hands behind his back, tapping his foot, the grin still affixed to his face. "Jakuelynn, you beautiful, sexy best friend's daughter, Sandover's best mechanic full-stop and rebellious Princess – "

She sliced Daxter's sycophancy with a "Okay. What would you like me to polish, fix, add on, take off or test? More to the fact, if it is NOT a car you would like me to fix..." She sighed, taking another deep breath. "Whom would you guys like me to shake down, knock out, blow up or shoot?"

"You read me _so_ well, my darling," Daxter continued in a syrupy tone. "We, ah, kinda...had a little accident in the Wasteland..."

Jakuelynn turned her deadly glare up to her father. "Jak, what happened?"

"We...got into a scuffle with some Metal Heads in the Wasteland...and..." Jak trailed off, his face a furious, flaming red.

"And?" the mechanic demanded. "Daxter, unless you wish to ever have sex again, you will not touch it!" she snapped as her ottsel-uncle laid his fingertip on the mini-Zoomer she was building for Rufas.

"Our car got – "

"Destroyed," Jak finished.

"I was gonna say 'mangled'," Daxter whispered.

Jakuelynn rolled her eyes. "Would that happen to be the Sand Hopper that I fixed for you _just...last...week_?" She drew out the last three words deliberately, Jak and Daxter wincing as the drawn-out words nicked at them.

"Yes..." Daxter said, scooting back to Jak's shoulder.

Jakuelynn shook her head, took a deep breath and counted to ten in her mind. Jak saw this, and also her mother once again. By the Precursors, Jakuelynn was the image of Keira when she got angry. Jak did not like it when she got angry.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen!" Jakuelynn sighed, exasperatedly. Her tone rose with every word. "Precursors, when are you _not_ going to crash the fucking car EVERY time you go out in it?"

"Uhh, Nel..." her father said in a low tone, nodding towards the bottom of the stairs, where a small boy, around four years of age, stood waiting. His large, violet-black eyes – the eyes of his father and paternal great-grandfather combined – were fixed on his mother, his night-black hair messed up. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking afraid.

"Roo?" Jakuelynn said softly, all the anger in her voice gone. It always did whenever she saw her son. "Roo, honey, come here. Did I scare you?"

Her son nodded.

"Darling, I didn't mean to. Mummy gets very cross with Grandpa Jak and Uncle Daxter when they don't look after things properly, that's all. I'm sorry, Rufas. Come here. Give me a hug." She crouched down to his level and opened her arms wide, locking her green eyes with his dark ones. He gave a small smile and ran to his mother, throwing himself into her arms and tightening his own around her neck. She locked her arms around him and stood up, swaying slightly as she held him. No matter what mood she was in, Rufas would always be the one to lift her spirits, much like Deimin used to in the past and Rhogan did in the present.

"You okay now? You want to go back to bed?" she whispered in his ear, breathing in Rufas' sleepy scent. She felt him nod and turned around, giving her father and uncle a glare – _this isn't finished yet_ – and trod upstairs to settle her son just as Rapace Mar Hagai, her adoptive son, yelled "Hey! Keep it down, I'm trying to sleep!"

The best friends looked at each other.

"Jak, I got the feeling we've really pissed her off this time," the ottsel whispered.

The veteran warrior shrugged. He saw his daughter's point – she had never complained in the past, simply fixing the vehicles, her mouth set in a tight line. She finally returned downstairs, a lot calmer than when she left, the warrioress in her resurfacing.

"I'll fix it, okay? But next time you take it to a Sandover mechanic to get it fixed."

"Problem with that, my dear almost-niece," Daxter put in. "We don't have any money."

"Ex-_actly_!" Jakuelynn replied acidly. "So don't crash the cars, yes?" She sighed frustratedly. "Where's the car?"

"In the garage," Jak said weakly, drawing back as Jakuelynn raged past them, box of tools in her hand. "Precursors, Dax, I think I'll sleep in your room tonight..."

"Oh yeah, you got the one next door to her!" Daxter let out a roar – well, as loud a roar as a two-foot tall ottsel could manage – of laughter. "Sucks to be you, bud. Sucks...to be you."

~x~

Several hours later, Jakuelynn gave the seventh-time-fixed vehicle the once-over, just to make sure that it was completely fixed. It was her ritual after every project, every assignment: the once, or even twice-over. She sighed, locking her tools away in the usual cabinet before remembering that she'd left the half-finished mini-Zoomer in the kitchen. So much for her lecturing her father about crashing his cars; Tess was going to explode for leaving so much mess in the kitchen. Jakuelynn sighed and dragged the Zoomer to the garage, locking it up one final time before clearing up every speck of oil, grease, every tiny particle of metal, every stray nail so that Rufas wouldn't cut his feet open when he walked in the kitchen the next morning. She straightened up, threw the rag away and went upstairs, heading to Rufas' room to check on _him_ one last time before going to her bed next door. His door was ajar as always; he couldn't sleep without a light, as many little boys didn't. Rapace was fourteen years old, but the experience with his real father Yuhmer Krazak had left him needing a light at night.

Jakuelynn pushed the door open and noticed a cold wind blowing in. She shivered involuntarily. _Wait a minute...I didn't open the window and Rufas couldn't have possibly opened it himself. Child locks. Thanks, Dad._

Then her eyes strayed to the empty bed. Her heart constricted in her chest and her breathing became wheezing as she made the connection.

Window wide open.

Bed empty.

Rufas missing.

Someone had taken him.

**A/N: Ooooh, now it all kicks off! Read and review - and also read marneus90's "Haven City IM". It's fuunny! :D:D**


	5. These Four Walls

**A/N: Chapter 4! Read and review – oh, by the way, NOT one-word reviews, please. I take the time and effort to write and edit this story, could you take the same time and effort to write a review, please, Mysterious Angel-05? Greatly appreciated, thankyou. "LOVE!" tells me nothing otherwise. ~ Mika**

That night, Rhogan had a bad dream.

Even today, he could never say exactly what was in that dream to make him think it was a bad dream as such. In fact, he barely remembered dreaming at all; he woke up with a two-tonne feeling of dread weighing on his entire body, heavy breathing and the inexplicable urge to call Jakuelynn and tell her...

Tell her what? That he thought something was wrong?

Rhogan jumped as his communicator flashed, buzzing on his desk. Stumbling out of bed, he almost tangled himself in his own legs trying to reach it before it stopped buzzing, as if it would explode if he didn't reach it time.

Instinctively, he knew immediately whom it was.

"I'm here, Nel, what's wrong?"

He was greeted with hysterical sobbing. A feeling of panic joined the feeling of dread, combining into one solid feeling of urgency.

"Nel, calm down and talk to me. What's happened?"

"It's R-Rufas," she sobbed. "H-he's gone,"

Rhogan frowned. "Gone? How do you mean, gone?"

"I mean...he's..._gone_, Rhogan!" she almost shouted. "Someone broke in and snatched my son out of his bed!"

The young man felt a chill run down his spine. "H-how did you...? Where were you when this happened?"

"I was downstairs in the garage fixing Jak's car for the seventh time. He'd crashed it – again – and I was j-just checking on Rufas as I usually did before going to bed. I...I n-noticed the window was open and h-he was gone!"

Rhogan's mouth dried. "Couldn't he have – "

"Opened the window himself? No, Rhogan, he couldn't have, there were special locks on there that could only be accessed with keys that myself and Jak hold!" The young woman on the other end of the communicator line drew a deep but shaky breath. "Someone _took_ him. I'm sure of it."

Rhogan didn't say anything for a few minutes. He frowned in puzzlement as he tried to piece things together. "Nel, darling, no offence, but why would anyone want to take Rufas?"

"Why would anyone want to take my son?" she repeated sarcastically. "Apart from the small fact that he's royalty and he's a clairvoyant Channeller with Light and Dark powers passed on through his grandfather? Yes, I do wonder why he would be kidnapped!"

"Wait, what? Rufas has abilities?"

"Yes, he does." The sobs were out of Jakuelynn's voice. "Deimin was an Attractor, so I suppose that meant he had some kind of Channelling ability. You know that a child can only be a Channeller if both of their parents are Channellers, right?"

"No, I didn't know any of that," Rhogan said in wonderment.

"And Jak's Light and Dark powers can only be inherited by his male descendants. I was more susceptible to them, as is Jayelle, m-my niece. Add to that Deimin's clairvoyant powers and...and you get Rufas." Jakuelynn's voice had faded to an exhausted murmur. "He's the first to have all those powers combined in hundreds of years. I just...I don't...I don't understand..." She commenced sobbing again.

"Nel. Honey. Do you want me to come over and help look for him?"

She sniffed, the sobs subsiding. "Don't you have other things to do, City Leader? Such as sleep?"

Rhogan smiled. "Sleep can wait. I'll be over soon." He closed the line before Jakuelynn could object.

~x~

Jakuelynn clicked off the line, wiping tears from her eyes. She looked at the little white box sitting on her bedside table – the pregnancy test she'd bought earlier today and was going to do before going to bed.

She sat down, wondering if she should take it now or not. It was going to take Rhogan a fair few minutes to get dressed and get to hers, if experience was anything to go by. The next few hours or days were not going to leave time for pregnancy testing.

She snatched the box up and was just out the door when she bumped into a concerned-looking Jak.

"Nel, are you okay? Is Rhogan on his way?"

"Y-yeah, he is," she sniffed, inadvertently wiping her leaking nose with the hand holding the pregnancy test. Jak frowned, catching her hand and attempting to read the box in the dim light.

"A pregnancy test?" he asked incredulously, his blue eyes silently interrogating her.

"Dei- Rufas told me I'm going to have twins," she said, keeping her voice to a whisper in case a certain pair of orange ears were listening in.

Jak's eyes widened. "_Twins?_ And _Rufas_ told you? Since when has he been having visions?"

Jakuelynn sighed. "Since he was two – can I explain later? Or at least _confirm_ if I'm having a baby or not?"

Jak sighed, his mouth a thin line. He was not keen on Rhogan at the best of times, but the fact that his daughter may be carrying his twins further lowered him in his favour. "Okay. Fine."

Jakuelynn disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it for added security. It was a good thing that she badly needed the toilet at that convenient time. Her hands were shaking so badly, she almost dropped the box in the toilet as she got the test out of it. Once it was done, she left it on the cistern and stared at her watch for the next two minutes, her heart racing in a way she'd never known.

_If I am pregnant, this is possibly the worse time to be so_, she thought to herself._ If I am, at least the father of my baby didn't just die in my arms._

She shuddered, shaking her head to combat the memory of Deimin dying in her arms, telling her she was expecting his child. Although she had come to terms with Deimin's death – as evidenced by her current relationship with Rhogan Lacolonna (née Praxis) – but it would always be something that was burned into her memory and subconscious as if with a blowtorch.

After a minute and a half had passed, she snatched the test and looked at it.

She blinked and looked at it again, putting it back down on the cistern. She flushed the toilet absentmindedly, zipping her jeans and washing her hands before sitting on the toilet lid, her clasped hands between her knees.

She was pregnant. Again. Three years after vowing she would never have another child again.

_Oh f –_


	6. FiveFour

**A/N: CHAPTER FIVE! Read and review, plz? Kthankxbai. Also read: marneus90's "Haven City IM" (and REVIEW, please, we're similar with regards to that) and the jakxkeiraaddict/ Fire-Eco-Sage co-write "Be Careful For What You Wish For". Plugging done, now go read! :D ~ Mika**

_**Somewhere else entirely**_

As the man drove away, the little boy in the backseat curled up, thoroughly frightened. Where was Mummy? Why wasn't she coming to get him? Even at almost-four years old, he knew it was useless to cry, but tears ran down his face. He stuck his thumb in his mouth to stop himself making noises that let the strange man know that he was scared. He shut his eyes, hoping that this was a bad dream, and that when he opened them again it would be daylight and Mummy and Grandpa Jak or Uncle Damas would be there...

He heard the city gates creak open again as they always did. When Rufas woke up from this nasty nightmare, he had to tell Rhogan about those old gates in some way. He couldn't talk. He wanted to, but he couldn't, and he didn't know why.

"Is the boy alright back there?" the strange man asked in his rough voice. Rufas didn't like that voice. He would know that for the rest of his life.

"He's fine. A little scared, but fine," a lady's voice said close to Rufas. It wasn't Mummy's voice. When had a _lady_ gotten into the car with the strange man? Was she there all along?

The strange man made a humming noise, the same one Grandpa Jak or Mummy used to make to tell everybody they were thinking about something. The sound made Rufas' heart beat faster and faster so it sounded like the engine of one of Mummy's cars.

"It's okay, little one," the strange lady soothed. "We're not going to hurt you. I promise."

Rufas thought that he liked the lady. The lady wasn't as nasty in her voice as the strange man.

"Hara'in, why are you lying to the kid?" the strange man said. He was angry, which made Rufas more scared. If the man said the lady was lying, did this mean the man and lady were going to hurt him? What did they want with him?

Suddenly, he was seeing things again. He saw himself tied up but not to a table, as Mummy and Grandpa Jak were when they were really young. He saw Mummy running as fast as she could toward him. She untied him and then gave him a big long hug like she hadn't seen him in a really long time. After the hug she turned and ran away from the table as fast as she could with him in her arms.

The tears stopped running down Rufas' face and he let himself smile.

Mummy _was_ going to come and get him.

~x~

_**The Mar-Hagai household**_

Jakuelynn slipped the pregnancy test back into the box before slipping the box into the pocket of her jeans, concealing it altogether. Just then, the doorbell rang and she ran downstairs, her heart racing as she almost took the door off its hinges opening it.

"Nel?"

"Rho!" she yelped, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder, the tears leaking out from her eyes and soaking his shirt again.

Her boyfriend locked his arms around her and rubbed her back, soothing her as best as he could. "I've just put a BOLO to the police for a small boy either on foot or in a vehicle – "

"BOLO?" Jakuelynn questioned.

"Be On the Look Out," Rhogan explained. He had worked with the police for a few months some years back and had picked up some of the language. "Okay, what's the view like from Rufas' window?"

Jakuelynn turned around, dragging Rhogan up the stairs and into Rufas' room. On the way, Rhogan passed Jak, who gave a scowl as the younger man waved a weak 'hello'. The warrioress only stopped when she reached the still-open window, untouched in the last half-hour upon discovery that her son was missing.

_Abducted._

Rhogan leant out the window, seeing a ledge below it. He looked along, seeing only the view of the street and the row of houses parallel to this one. He was trying to work out where Rufas' abductor could have gone and how he or she had gotten to the little boy.

"He used the ledge..." Rhogan muttered, thinking aloud.

"What?" the distressed mother demanded.

"I was just thinking aloud. He or she used the ledge...then..." Rhogan scratched his head. "They must have abseiled or climbed down."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Jakuelynn demanded, gritting her teeth. "That bastard – whomever it is – has my _son_. Let's go find him!"

"Wait, Nel. We don't know where he's gone, we won't know where to start looking – "

"The city gates, maybe?" Jakuelynn said sharply. "Whoever's taken my son wouldn't stay in the city for long. They could be heading towards the Wasteland or...or anywhere now!"

Rhogan just looked at her, an empathetic but empty look that could offer nothing.

"_What_, Rho?" she snapped.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "Nothing at all." He sighed. "Look, let's just..." He stopped and tried again. "Come back to mine tonight. Take your comm. in case someone has news. I'll tell them to contact you directly." He took Jakuelynn's hands. "Nel, we can't do any more tonight. The police are looking, but we can't do anything unless we get notice of results or lack of results. Either way..."

Tears leaked out of the young mother's eyes, but she sighed, her shoulders slumping. Rhogan was right – there was no way, unless she personally went out herself, which she was not beyond doing, that _any_ results would be successful out of frustration and fatigue. She _was_ tired. She yawned, linking her hand with Rhogan's, her body expressing her answer to his proposal.

He smiled, his face softening. "There you go. You okay for – "

She looked at him, silencing his question. "Rho, I'm fine for that. You know it. Jak..." She released his hands and turned out the door, possibly wanting to keep her father away from her boyfriend. Rhogan was many things, but he was not stupid – he knew Jak was cold towards him because of what his father, aunt and grandfather had done to Jak, his daughter and father in the past. Jakuelynn had still been unsuccessful in attempting to heal the generational rift between the Praxis and Mar clans. Even changing his surname had not helped Rhogan.

He sighed, following Jakuelynn out of the room when she returned to him, her communicator clipped to her jeans.


	7. Six Six Six

**A/N: Hi everyone, sorry this is so late! Been very busy recently; in fact, and I know I should have said this several chapters ago, but my updating won't be as frequent as it usually is due to everything else getting in the damn way. Anyway, I ask for your patience and as always to read and review ^_^ ~ Mika**

**PS: YESSS, DAMAS (Junior)! He's my favourite OC just because he is completely unlike his father and sister in temper :D**

Jakuelynn didn't sleep that night. Even though she was perfectly still, Rhogan failed to hear the way her breathing steadied and her body curled up as she always did when she slept. She was uneasy and Rhogan couldn't blame her. In fact, at this moment in time, she was standing by the large windows on the other side of the room, moonlight bathing her body and casting a large silhouette.

"Nel?" Rhogan asked gently, sliding out of bed and joining her. "Honey, come to bed."

The warrioress shook her head, shoulders slumped in dejection. "I have to know if my son's okay," she said hoarsely.

Rhogan sighed inwardly. "Nelly, we're not going to know until at least six or seven hours at the earliest,"

"Unless something's found that can lead me to him sooner!" she insisted.

"Unless something's found," Rhogan agreed, slipping an arm around her waist and looking up at her. Her green eyes were bright in the moonlight; bright and hurt-filled. She was extremely anxious for Rufas. One did not have to even look at her to understand that; it was coming off her in waves.

She sighed and looked down, both arms wrapped around her waist, the long, deep scar on her cheek catching in the light. She had acquired it a year or two back thanks to a particularly troublesome Metal Head claw, and it had narrowly missed her eye that day. It made her look older; experienced, she liked to think – after all, she _had_ been the City Protector since she was nineteen – but Rhogan always thought it made her look older in a sad way.

"Rho..." Her voice pierced the silence like a silver knife.

"Nel?" His soft voice responded, his blue eyes watching her. She took a deep breath as if she was about to say something, opening and closing her mouth like a fish. After five minutes of repeating those actions, she closed her mouth and shook her head.

_Come on, Nelly. Tell him_, she reprimanded herself. _Tell him you're carrying his child._ But something in her said "no"; told her not to say anything.

"It's...nothing," she said softly. "Nothing at all."

~x~

"How...can a three year old _boy_...unlock a high window and escape from an equally high ledge?"

"Daxter, he was kidnapped, he didn't escape."

"You _sure_ about that? Cause I'm not so sure, buddy. He's so much like his ma, maybe he wanted to have an adventure of his own, heh?"

"Dax, he's _three_. He can barely dress himself, let alone have his own adventure – "

"Well, maybe he wanted to go with Mummy!"

"It wouldn't surprise me if he _did_," Jak thought aloud, craning his neck round a street corner and knowing in his gut that it was hopeless. As Nel had said, whoever had abducted him was long out the city now. He wondered if this was how Damas – his father – had felt when Jak was abducted when he was roundabout the same age; wondering if he'd felt the same combination of anxiety and anger against a wall of futility that Jak was feeling, that Nelly was sure as hell feeling now.

He remembered feeling that way when his daughter was taken from him.

"Father!"

He snapped out of his reverie and straightened up as his son screeched to a halt beside him.

"Damas! Anything?"

The Eco Sage twisted his mouth, shaking his head. "No. Nothing. I think whomever took Rufas has long departed the city,"

Jak sighed. Damas stopped the car and gazed at his father for several long moments.

"That's what I feared," the veteran warrior said quietly, his back twinging. He uttered a sharp gasp and clutched the sore spot. "I think my body's telling me I'm done for the night."

"Want a lift home?"

"How far are we from the house?"

"Mine or yours?" his son shot back.

Jak sighed. "Either,"

"We're closer to mine than yours, but it's up to you..."

"I'll just get back to mine,"

Damas nodded. "Okay. I must return to the children." He gave a small smile which reminded Jak of Keira, as Jakuelynn often did. He climbed back into the car and sped off, breaking countless speed laws.

"Ah, just like his father, breaking the speed barrier," Daxter commented, making Jak grin. "Though why does he have to talk like a frickin' Eco Sage?"

"Dax," his best friend said patiently, "Damas _is_ an Eco Sage,"

"_Really?_ But he's not an Eco Sage like ol' Samos was!"

"No, because he's pan-Eco, like Keira was,"

"Wuh?" Daxter scratched his head.

"He controls all types of Eco. Even Dark."

"But Dark – "

"Can't be controlled, I know." Jak turned, heading back to the house, noticing how stiff his knees were beginning to become. _Damn you, old age._ "What can I say? He's my son."

~x~

Jakuelynn sat in the bathroom at Sandover City HQ, her mind turning over and over between telling Rhogan about the pregnancy and worrying for Rufas. She knew the latter was not very good for the former, but this only served to increase her anxiety.

A hammering on the door jolted her out of her reverie and she stood up straight, instinctively reaching for the gun that wasn't strapped to her front.

"Nel, are you sure you're okay?"

A flash of irritation seared through her. _Why can't Rhogan leave things alone?_ She unlocked the door and did find her boyfriend standing there tentatively.

"Rhogan – "

"Jakuelynn, I don't want you to be precise if you don't want to be, but I want you to tell me what's going on right now, or so help me I'll – "

"It's nothing, Rhogan. Seriously," she said flatly, cutting his old-woman rant. The words stopped. "If it was serious, if it was something that would affect our relationship, I'd tell you. Straight out. You know me."

The City Leader nodded, reaching for Jakuelynn's hand. A weight of guilt fell on her shoulders as she realised that she _had_ to tell him about the pregnancy sooner or later. He smiled at her, his eyes crinkling, looking every bit his thirty-five years but in a handsome way. She loved him deeply and she hoped he knew that. He'd been so important to her in the last four years.

So why couldn't she tell him she was carrying his children between her hips?

_You're a coward, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai._

She shook her head and slipped back into bed with Rhogan, a double weight of guilt on her mind and shoulders.

**PS: Happy Hallowe'en, everyone ^_^**


	8. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

**A/N: Hi, everybody, thanks for reviews! May not update tomorrow or Wednesday as I'm coming down with a cold and also have 2.5 hour rehearsals :( just a heads up just in case. Also: BIG EFFING NEWS: I've FINALLY beaten that damn gun turrent mission, after about 4 goes, 2 goes from my dad and 2 more goes! Now I'm on 88% of "Jak 3"! OH YEAHH. Life is good. Anyway, read and review and whatnot. Please. ~ Mika**

_**Four hours. The Mar-Hagai/ Ottsel household**_

_Rrrip_.

Jak's eyes snapped open as his ears detected someone in his house. Slipping on a dressing-gown and sliding out of bed, he grabbed his Morph – which was never further than an arm's length, whether he was on a mission or not – and flattened himself against a nearby wall as he crept to the door. His world was monochromatic, the black of the night sliced only by the silver of the moonlight through the gaps in the curtains. In contrast to this still, peaceful scene, Jak's heart was racing like it used to whenever he got behind the wheel for combat racing. That was admittedly _many_ years back; he gave up after settling down with Keira.

His hand fumbled for the door jamb and it squeaked as he twisted it, unlocking the door. He felt it resist in his hand, but kept persisting until the horizontal dark blue stripe of the night-lit hall was visible.

His heart stopped.

So did the noises.

Heart continuing to race – _remember your blood pressure, old man, remember your blood pressure_ – he manoeuvred his body through the gap in the door and against the wall, moving in the direction of the sounds. The ripping sounds were accompanied by floorboard creaks and heavy breathing.

All of which came from Jakuelynn's room.

Heart racing and completely riled up, the veteran warrior burst into the room, gun pointed, finger on the trigger –

"_Whoa_, Jak! That's a fine hello!" gasped a familiar voice as its owner put her hands up.

"_Nel?_" Jak yelped, almost dropping the gun in shock. "What are you doing home? I thought you were at Rhogan's,"

"I'm going – " she picked up the chest plate and locked it around her torso " – to travel the world – " She stretched, picking up her Morph and slinging it around her body " – and find my son." She straightened up to her ceiling-clashing height, locking eyes with her father. In them, Jak saw a fire he hadn't seen since before Deimin died.

"Aren't the police –?"

"The police aren't gonna do shit outside of Sandover!" Jakuelynn said brittlely. "They don't do shit inside Sandover, so I'm taking this into my own hands. Jak, that's my _son_ out there, kidnapped and..." She took a shaky sigh and stopped, gasping as she clutched her belly, bent double. As she did so, Jak suddenly noticed the subtle roundness to her stomach – visible only recently, obviously.

"Nelly..."

She regained control of her breathing and looked up, green eyes momentarily holding pain. "What?" she rasped.

"Are you pregnant?"

_Straight to the quick_, Jakuelynn thought, standing up straight. She decided to give him the same medicine he'd just dosed her with. "Yes, I am. Possibly with twins. Rufas told me earlier,"

Her father's jaw dropped. "_Twins?_"

She nodded, adjusting her Morph Gun so it was more comfortable. She was still for several minutes, her hands still protectively over her swollen stomach. _The warrioress, the mother separated from her son and expectant mother rolled in one_, Jak reflected, an inexplicable sadness underlining the thought. His daughter lowered her eyes from him briefly.

Then she asked a three-word question that would haunt him for the remainder of his life, a question infused with steel:

"Are you coming?"

Jak bit his lip as his mind turned over – notably slower than it used to, no doubt thanks to age. His answer was one that split both father and daughter's paths of life:

"I'll go and wake Daxter."

A small smile crossed the twenty-nine year old's face. "I'll meet you in the garage."

~x~

_**Two hours later**_

A ray of sunlight hit Rhogan's outstretched hand and then his eyes, waking him up. He groaned and looked at the time. _Six hours. Shit._

"Morning, Nel," he mumbled, moving his outstretched hand in search of warm, scarred human skin. It only found dented pillow, sheets and mattress.

He woke up properly then.

"Jakuelynn?" he called, slightly in panic, bolting up and twisting his body to check that she wasn't hiding anywhere. She had been known to play tricks on him as soon as she woke up in the mornings. His hand then found a piece of paper, folded and crumpled from where, he presumed, his hand had slammed on it.

He read his name on the front and opened it.

_I had to go. I'm sorry._

– _Nelly_

He sighed, folding the piece of paper back up and running to the large windows overlooking the city gates. He got there just in time as they opened and let out a recognisable Hopper, two figures – or three, Rhogan hadn't put his contact lenses in or glasses on yet and couldn't tell – inside it. Rhogan snatched up his binoculars and focussed them on the vehicle, his heart sinking when he spotted two green-blonde heads – one with silver and white streaks – and a ball of very pale orange in the vehicle.

Heading towards the Wasteland.

Rhogan knew by now that it was futile to stop Nel, but he hoped to the Precursors she'd brought her communicator with her. Or at the very least, _someone_ had. He did worry about her sometimes; scratch that – _all_ the time, even though he was not a nervous man by nature. However, something in his gut had been telling him for hours, even as he drifted off to sleep, that she would do this; that she would take matters into her own hands. It was inevitable for her, given her heritage and stubborn-as-a-mule temperament combining with the maternal instincts.

"Oh, Nel," he said aloud. "Why must you be so...like Jak? Isn't there a remote trace of Keira in you?"

"I agree, she's a lot like her father," rasped a familiar voice.

Rhogan turned, crossing his arms and frowning defensively as he saw whom it was.

"Dad," he said, a coolness entering his voice as it always did when he saw his father. "What do _you_ want now?"


	9. 8 Mile

**A/N: HI, everyone! Sorry for lack of updates, but I wasn't well yesterday. Slept a lot and now I feel BETTER :D oh btw just to warn you, next week there may not be updates as I have tech on this play I'm doing from half six every day and I may not be on the Internets :( On a happier note, there will be time leaps in this story, they just may not be labelled. A date may be thrown out occasionally but that's it. (At the moment it's roundabout the middle of Spring). Read and revieewwwwww please ^_^ ~Mika**

The sun burned up any cool morning air left the further the trio progressed into the Wasteland. Sweat began to accumulate under Jak and Jakuelynn's clothes, making them stick to their skin and, in turn, making their skin itch.

"So...where first?" Daxter ventured, ever the first to break the silence.

"Spargus," Jakuelynn replied, her tone as frosty as the air was hot. "Hold on, gentlemen!" she yelled, suddenly swerving and slammed the accelerator pedal hard as a pair of Marauders crashed right into the spot where the Hopper was.

"How'd you know theh...What?" Daxter shrieked. None of them had seen them coming

"I've been around Damas for far too long," the warrioress replied, chuckling as she got back on course. "Picked up a sorta...sixth sense from him, if you want to call it that."

"But why have the Marauders made a reappearance?" Jak wondered aloud.

Jakuelynn hummed in pensive thought, something she was not used to. "We're fresh meat, I guess. How long has it been since we were out in the Wasteland?"

"Nel, you're asking me to use my memory here..."

"Sorry, Jak!" She laughed. "I forgot you're approaching sixty. You and Dax,"

"Hey, lady! You're not too big for a spanking, y'know! Spanking. Oooh yeah – HEY!" he yelled, rubbing the back of his head and scowling at his best friend. "That's enough!"

"_That_ is my _daughter_ you're hitting on – "

"Jak, honestly. It's been nearly twelve years now. I'm used to it, even if I'm not used to being hit on." Jakuelynn shrugged at her father, curving the vehicle around as the gates of Spargus approached through the mild sandstorm. "Here we are...first stop."

"Here? Spargus?" Even Jak was confused. "Why here?"

Jakuelynn slowed the car as the gates rolled open. She coasted the vehicle in and smoothly parked it, climbing out and smoothing her clothes down.

"Gotta go pay a visit to Uncle Sig, no? And also, see if the bastards who took my son are here. If not, then we need to get information." As if to emphasise her point, she took her Morph Gun and reloaded it, slinging it across her body, carefully missing the little bump between her hips. She looked down at it and chuckled almost girlishly. "Ah, anyway. Let's go, boys."

Jak smiled secretly at the little human moment his daughter had before the warrior in her took over. Rhogan was right; she would make a good Leader someday.

He just hoped they would live to see that day.

~x~

The day broke as another vehicle containing three very different people reached a small town on the other side of the Wasteland. Little Rufas was curled up in the corner of the car, deeply asleep, the amulet around his neck glinting in the morning sun.

"Let's stop here," the woman insisted, her hands in her lap. "We've been driving all night."

"You _heard_ what the Voice said!" the man snapped, exhausted from driving all night. "We need to keep going until we reach Base. This is so that the boy's mother or grandfather – or worse, mother _and _grandfather – doesn't find us and beat the ever-living shit out of us, as they are reputed for doing."

The woman sighed through her tightened lips. "We also need to get the boy back to Base _alive_ and _in one piece_. If we drive on as we are right now, we'll crash and not only kill ourselves, but injure or kill the boy too!"

The man sighed, slowing the car as he entered the town. It was as quiet and deserted as ever, the only sound being the wind winding its way through the deserted streets before the vehicle purred to a halt by an abandoned building which looked like it had been a hotel when the town was alive. The car stopped and the toddler in the back stirred and awoke, rubbing his eyes sleepily and sitting up, his large dark violet eyes blinking at the couple.

"Rufas?" the woman cooed gently. "Come on, little one. We're gonna get some rest."

Rufas frowned at the woman, looking just like his grandfather for a moment. He folded his arms and shook his head.

The man was more impatient, yanking the door open and dragging Rufas out the car. The toddler's eyes widened as his bum hit the floor and he was yanked to his feet again. He tried to resist, pulling back to the car, but the man was stronger and pulled Rufas back towards him. Fear ran through the little one and tears ran down his cheeks as he shoved his thumb in his mouth to contain that fear. _Where's Mummy? Why isn't she here yet?_

"Don't be rough with him!" the woman barked, further frightening the toddler. She saw his face and sighed. "We're sorry, Rufas. We're...just sleepy, that's all. We're very tired." She looked back at the man. "Let him go."

"He's going to run – "

His protest was quelled with one look. She stretched her hand out as the man released the toddler from his own grip. Rufas looked back and forth between the couple before running to the woman and closing his fingers around hers. A warmth blossomed in her as she gently rubbed the red mark on his wrist, making it feel much better.

She smiled nicely at him.

He smiled back. Whilst he'd been sleeping, he had a dream about the lady. Unlike the nasty boys and girls at where they called Base, this lady wasn't going to hurt him. When Mummy and Grandpa come and get him, the lady was going to help them.

He decided he liked her.

~x~

"Chili, Firecracker!" a familiar, rich voice greeted them when they reached the Throne Room. "What are you guys doin' here? Where's the little one?"

"Uncle Sig!" Jakuelynn said joyfully, an uncontrollable grin briefly spreading her face and disappearing as she remembered the reason why she came. "We...well, that's the reason why we came here. Rufas...someone's taken Rufas and we're trying to find them. Him. Her. Whomever took my son!" She clenched her fists, Dark Eco crackling around her limbs.

Jak put a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a low voice. "Nel, you're crackling..."

"Oh." She looked down and around her body where she saw purple lightning. Involuntarily, she wrapped her arms protectively around her stomach, taking deep breaths in an attempt to combat the Darkness rising in her.

"Firecracker, you OK?"

_Breathe, Jakuelynn. Breathe. I command you._ She straightened up when she was able to breathe and Sig noticed why they were so concerned.

"Nel, you expectin' again?" he asked.

She lowered her eyes and nodded. "Twins. If you want to know, Rufas told me yesterday. And yes...he's clairvoyant, just like Deimin."

"You been to a hospital yet to check on those little ones?" Sig asked, concerned. _She shouldn't be here...she should be restin'._

Jakuelynn shook her head. "Haven't had time. Only found out yesterday, remember?" She sighed. "I don't have time to – "

"Jakuelynn, stop your gassin' and get yourself down to the hospital before you do anything else," Sig cut in.

The young woman automatically stiffened up and saluted. "Yes, Sire." She turned to her father. "Would...could you come with me, Jak? Please?"

He nodded. "Yeah...course. You comin', Dax?"

"You kidding me? _Babies?_ Nuh-uh. Been there, done that, got the screams still ringin' in my ears...oh, okay, Nelly, ya twisted my arm. Last time, though. Got me?"

"Okay," Jakuelynn said quietly.

"And I'm only doin' it because you're my best friend's kid – okay, _one_ of my best friend's kids – and, well...he'll probably hit me if I don't."

The warrioress chuckled. "Okay, Uncle Dax. Let's go."

"Don't...call...me...Uncle!" the ottsel yelled.

"Ah, Dax, you love it really," Jak countered as they moved off. The aged ottsel scowled and folded his arms defensively. He hated to admit it, but his best friend was right.

Which is probably why he never liked admitting it.


	10. 9 Crimes

**A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for reviews, reads and what have yous. Please read and review. Thanks :) ~ Mika**

It was cold in the hospital, which didn't surprise father and daughter remotely, given that it was late Autumn. Jakuelynn shivered as the ultrasound scanner rubbed cold, clear gel on her swollen stomach.

"Yaich...I haven't had to do this in years," Jak remarked, half to himself. His daughter broke her gaze from the screen long enough to query that remark.

"Haven't done what?"

"This." Jak gesticulated to the equipment on the other side of himself and his daughter. "I haven't attended an ultrasound since Keira was pregnant with Damas."

Jakuelynn briefly tilted her head to one side and returned her gaze to the screen, her heart riding in her throat. She had no idea why she was so nervous; she had done this before, four years previously, whilst pregnant with Rufas. Suddenly, an image appeared on the screen and the nurse smiled.

"Congratulations! You're expecting healthy twins. By their size...it looks like you're fourteen weeks pregnant."

"Fourteen weeks?" Jakuelynn yelped. "How have I not noticed this sooner?"

The nurse kept her opinions to herself as she removed the scanner, wiping the gel off the young woman's stomach. Jak helped her sit up and she rolled her shirt back over her stomach and hauled herself off the gurney whilst the nurse disappeared next door. The warrioress looked at her father.

"Nel...I have...nothing to say," Jak admitted, shrugging. His daughter was quiet, something which disturbed him deeply. The nurse soon reappeared with a white envelope which she presented to Jakuelynn.

"Your photos from the scan," she explained, upon seeing the look on the warrioress' face.

"Oh." Jakuelynn nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"You alright? You seem a bit...dazed," Jak asked.

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I just..." _– need to call Rhogan –_ "I just need to start looking for my son. Come on. Let's go hunt around Spargus."

Jak wasn't so sure. He hung back, folding his arms and giving his daughter a look.

She sighed, stopping. "What, Jak?"

"I think...you need to go back to Sandover," her father said. He said this quietly to attempt to minimise the severity of her reaction.

"_Why_?" she asked in a cold, quiet tone.

It failed.

"Whomever took Rufas could be dangerous_._ If he, she or they are as dangerous as I feel, you're risking not only your life, but the lives of your children." Jak watched his daughter's face as it ran the gauntlet of emotions. Eventually, she collected herself enough to form a reply.

"This is...my son and heir we're talking about. He...If I sit at home and do nothing for the next six and a half months, only to find Rufas' wasted body in the Wasteland, I'm never going to live with knowing I could have saved him." The determination and pain stemming from that realisation in her eyes was plain to see. "Jak, I'm going to hunt and kill the fuckers who stole my son from me, even if it does take my life and the lives of my children."

"So you're saying you don't care about the twins inside of you?" Jak shot back, eyes narrowing involuntarily.

"I'm not saying I don't care about them!" Jakuelynn clenched her fist to stop her anger manifesting itself in violence. "I...I just...you..." She growled in frustration and turned, collecting her armour and storming out the hospital to the car they'd arrived in.

Jak ran after her, catching up with her just as she was about to drive away. He climbed into the passenger side, feeling resistance come off his daughter in waves. She didn't look at or speak to him as they drove back to Spargus Palace.

~x~

"How much longer d'ya think they're gonna be – Oh, hello, padre! About time!"

"Not now, Dax," Jak said gruffly. The ottsel darted back onto his shoulder, wondering why there was suddenly so much tension between father and daughter. The daughter strapped her armour back on and collected the Morph, which was propped up behind Sig's throne. Sig himself was sat on the throne, staring at the warrioress and attempting to figure out what to say. She slung the gun over her shoulder and gave a little bow before the Spargan King, her vocabulary switching to the formal.

"With all due respect, Sire, I must leave now. I've got a little boy to find," she said, her tone even and colourless. "Namely, my son."

"Firecracker, you really shouldn't – "

"I realise that, Sire, but if my son dies, the guilt is forever on my shoulders," Jakuelynn said curtly as she reloaded, filling all empty spaces in the magazine. The men (and ottsel) in the room knew that there was no point in stopping her. She closed the magazine and looked them all in the eyes. _I'm not going to stop._

Only Jak was able to hold her gaze. _I know. You're just like me._

She stretched and left the palace without a word, her Morph slung across her body again. Daxter looked at Jak, who shrugged.

Sig whistled. "That stubbornness is gonna get her into trouble someday."

Jak turned on his heel and ran after his daughter, snatching up his Morph as he went.

"Jak! JAK! What are you _doing?_" Daxter screamed.

"What does it look like, Dax?" Jak said. "Can't let her go alone."

"Hey! Can you at least leave me here? I don't want to get shot at by Spargans again! Oohhh..." Daxter slapped a hand to his face dramatically. "Sometimes I swear I'm way too old for this sh – "

"Nel!" Jak yelled, cutting him off. "Wait!"

"What do you want, Jak?" she snapped, her eyes swirling with black.

"To help you find Rufas," he replied, using a softer tone.

The black in her eyes disappeared. "Oh. Okay. Well, get in then, and hold on." A smirk formed on her face, and Daxter gulped. She flipped open her communicator and pressed a button. "Damas?" she said, nodding as a voice responded. "Right. We're coming your way."


	11. Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial

**A/N: Oh my god. I AM SO SO SO SORRY FOR THE LACK OF UPDATES. My laptop conveniently went completely bust a week last Friday which meant I have been going fucking crazy over not being able to update and not being able to clarify whether I will still have this and the next six chapters on here (which will comprise of half the story from last chapter). I also grew a odd green goatee and got tortured by Baron Lackofpersonallaptop-xis in that time too, which means I have anger issues...wait, I already did. JK about the goatee, I just wanted to make an explicit reference. OTOH I have only got ONE THING to do on "Jak 3" and then I has finished it which I am reluctant to do because, as a very novice gamer, it's been the best gaming experience I've ever had. Period. And I don't wanna do another game, particularly "II", which I'm currently at 20% on.**

**Here, have some Light Eco cakes on me. All free.**

**ANYWAY, I will shut up and update. Enjoy. Read, review, rate, recommend, etc. Thank you all for your unexpected employment of patience.**

**~ Mika**

The Eco Sage steered the smoking wreck of a car into the garage as he veered off the track. Once he was safely in the garage, he leapt skilfully out of the vehicle and removed his helmet, shaking his head to loosen his hair. Still in his combat racing gear, he decided to wind down and have a drink whilst his sister and father travelled to Kras. He knew that it had been at least forty years since his father was last in Kras, racing for his life; for his friends' lives.

Despite his demeanour and spiritual calling, Damas Mar Hagai (racing under the name of Saldam Ar'Aigham) had always loved the way adrenaline raced through his veins. The wind running through his dual-coloured hair; the lifting of the heart at the screech of tyres; the adrenaline at risking his life, and indeed, as he overtook his opponents on the track. This adrenaline had not been felt in a very long time; when he settled down with Rossanna and Oreyn had been born, he had given it all up. Rossanna flatly refused to settle down with him unless he gave it up for life; the tutors he studied under to become an Eco Sage flatly discouraged combat racing.

He would never admit it, but he missed it up until now. As much as he resembled his mother, as much as he followed her path, in this respect, he was his father's son.

He ordered his drink and sat back, twisting the ring on the appropriate finger absent-mindedly, as he always did whenever Rossanna entered his mind. He missed her dreadfully – almost a decade had passed, and he never stopped thinking about her. He saw her eyes, as golden as the Wasteland sands. He heard the voice of the doctor.

"_The baby's safe, but we're losing her..."_

"...they've got the kid."

Damas snapped out of his reverie and turned in his stool at the direction of the low voice. He saw a couple of men in the corner, chatting over a drink he recognised as a Caladena Bomb, their voices low as to not attract attention.

They had attracted Damas', though.

_Are they talking about..._

"You serious?"

"Absolutely. About twenty-three hours. She found the house, got the window open and took him, just like that."

_...my nephew?_

Damas turned back to the bar, his ears on high alert, listening in to the conversation as he sipped his drink – non-alcoholic, he needed a sharp mind today.

"And they're on their way back to Base?"

_Base? Where's Base?_ The Eco Sage made a mental note to look up Base, if that was indeed a real town or city. There was so much of this world that was as yet unexplored. Perhaps Base was an obscure town or city.

"Yeah. They are now."

The other man, whomever he was, snorted. "What do they want with this kid anyway?"

A pause. "Somethin' 'bout a prophecy. This kid with a shit-ton of powers is gonna save the world or somethin' like that. They took him to experiment on him, see if it's true."

"And if it is?"

Damas turned a little more, in time to see the man on the left swipe his hand across his throat in a slashing motion.

The other man's eyes widened. "You're shittin' me? They're gonna kill him? A kid of, what, three?"

"Getting all soft, are we?" The man on the left snorted. "This is why _you_ weren't sent to do this shit. You don't have the guts to kill a kid..."

Damas fought the overwhelming urge to slam the man against the wall and beat the ever-living faeces out of him. This was his little _nephew_ they were talking about. His sister's only child. He shook with anger, managing to not spill his drink everywhere as he raised it to his lips and downed it in one gulp.

He was lucky it was water.

"Damas?" a female voice cut through his anger. He turned, seeing his father and sister in the bar.

"Jakuelynn. Father." Damas got up and greeted them as calmly as he could, given the circumstances.

"You been combat racing again?" Jakuelynn said lightly, seeing his clothes. She saw her brother's face and her tone changed. "What is it, Damas? What have you seen or heard?"

"A conversation," he said in a low gravelly tone. "It was about Rufas."

Jakuelynn's body stiffened and straightened. "_What?_" she hissed, stepping closer to her brother, her green eyes hard again.

"Nel, calm down!" he urged in a low tone, resting his hands on his sister's shoulders. Instantly, she smacked them hard, causing them to retreat. He twisted quickly around to see if the men had heard. They hadn't.

"Damas. What. Did. You. Hear?"

He put his hands up in defeat. "Nothing that will advance your journey to find Rufas, and yet something that will advance your j– "

"Damas Mar Hagai, quit speaking in riddles and give it to me straight!" the pregnant warrioress snapped.

"My apologies." Damas cleared his throat. "I learned that whoever took Rufas had taken him because of a prophecy which may or may not have involved him. Something about his inheriting a copious amount of powers and using them to save the world. If Rufas was indeed the child in the prophecy, there are plans to kill him..."

A loud yelp emerged from the warrioress as her eyes filled with tears. "_Kill_ him? Wh-where did you learn this?"

Damas hushed her before explaining. "I overheard it in a conversation. You see those two men behind me? Behind my left shoulder...standing and talking."

"Yess!" Jakuelynn hissed, eyes narrowing.

"I overheard it from them. Don't!" Damas gritted his teeth as Jakuelynn tried to force her way past. "You'll arouse suspicion."

"Someone say 'arouse'?" Daxter piped in, having woken up. Nobody responded, as they were all subtlely watching the two men, attempting to listen in on the conversation between the two men. Eventually, they left. Jakuelynn immediately headed straight after them – gone before her father and brother even noticed. Rolling their eyes at each other, they followed her.


	12. Drinking For Eleven

**A/N: Hello, everyone! Fanks for reviews. Sorry about slightly late update...I was typing up Chapter 18 from where I'd handwritten it. Read, review, rate, all that jazzles. Please. ~ Mika**

**PS: Caile = Kyle.**

Jakuelynn stormed out the bar, turning the heads of patrons as she did so. Her heart thrummed in fury, Dark Eco crackling around her limbs and Morph Gun in her hands. For a stomach-freezing second, Jak thought she was going to repeat what she'd pulled on an innocent minion of Yuhmer's four years back to get information. He had found out about that incident and needless to say, he was not impressed.

This, he would say later, was the only reason he went after her that day.

Jakuelynn caught up with the two men without them noticing, which was some feat. As they stopped and turned around, she dealt blows to their heads with her newly mechanised hand. As the crumpled to the floor, she massaged it quickly, wincing, before dragging them off to the nearest secluded spot behind the club and throwing them against the black solid mass before her. Their bodies clanged against the hard metal, the sound echoing long into the night and waking the men up.

Jakuelynn swung her gun round and pointed it at the man on her right, whose eyes were wide open.

"Oh shit. Oh fuh-fuh-fuh...It's YOU!"

"What's your name?" she demanded coldly.

"Ca-Caile," he stammered, visibly shaking.

"Jakuelynn, is this really necessary?" Jak muttered in her ear in a low tone.

"Oh course it is!" she snapped, turning to him. Her eyes were completely black now, her skin twisted ash-grey by the watery moonlight. "It's the only way to get answers!"

"No, Nel, it's really not," he muttered again, but this went unheard as his daughter switched her attention to the men.

"What's your name?" she demanded again. "Didn't hear it!"

"Caile, I said _Caile!_" the man whimpered, visibly sweating.

Jakuelynn rolled her eyes, switching to the Blaster mode. "You! What's your name?"

"Du-Duham," the other man stammered.

"Precursors, man the fuck up, both of you!" she growled, pointing the Blaster first at Duham's genitals and then Caile's. "Or I'll take away what makes you 'man' up..."

"Oh Precursors, please, no!" the one who called himself Caile sobbed. "We'll tell you anything you want. Anything!"

"_Anything?_" Jakuelynn emphasised, squeezing the word out as if she was squeezing their...well, anyway. "Then who took my son and why?"

"Th-The Voice wanted to take your son!"

Jakuelynn rolled her eyes. "Dear Precursors, not another villain with a general name." She loaded her Blaster and rested her finger over the trigger. "Why. Was. My. Son. Taken?"

"It was – "

"Don't tell them!" one of them screamed. Jakuelynn aimed the gun at the man and fired, causing him to scream again. "AARGH! My _knee!_"

"Shut up, then!" the very pissed off warrioress hissed. "You. Caile. You were saying something. What?"

"A pr-prophecy," Caile stammered. A sob underlined his voice. "Your s-son's probably...a...the little boy at the s-s-centre of a pro-prophecy made a coupla years...ago."

"What _kind_ of prophecy?" Jakuelynn snarled, her gun focussed on Caile.

He swallowed. "I duh...I don't know the f-full details, b-but he's supposed to have a shit-tonne of powers and stuff. He's meant to make the d-decision to either save the world or...or destroy it with those powers. H-he was taken to see if this was true, that if he _was_ the kid – "

"And if he is?" Jak interjected, a third party in the interrogation. A look passed between father and daughter, and father shrugged. There was no response from the man. Jakuelynn dropped her gun and hauled him in the air. In the dim light, she saw that his eyes were open but empty. His head lolled to one side, and the young woman could see a slight foam from the corner of his mouth.

"Suicide pill!" she growled angrily, throwing the dead man down on the hard tarmac floor in disgust. She looked at her father and ottsel-uncle, who stared back at her. "Well, what?" She looked around for her brother. "Where's Damas?"

"He's gone on ahead," Jak said.

"That's Eco Sages for ya," Daxter reasoned. "Always takin' off when you don't want 'em to. And appearing, too!,"

Jakuelynn scratched her head. "I barely heard him leave! Where did he go?"

~x~

_**Allabinah City**_

Damas dived out of the portal and rolled onto the dusty ground. Dawn was just breaking here; Allabinah, he remembered, was six hours ahead of Sandover and Spargus, which just went to show how large the Wasteland was. There was little activity in the city as Damas moved about through its streets, long-lost, dormant memories awakening. He had not been back to the city since he had come of age, having left to continue his studies as an Eco Sage. Shaking the memories out of his head, he focussed on the here and now, continuing to manoeuvre through the streets. A car pulled in, and he pulled into the shadows, watching the car as it passed him. From where he could see, the car contained a man, a woman and a head of black hair. Luckily, the driver – the man, he saw – was obeying Allabinan speed laws, so the car was moving slow enough for Damas to identify the head of hair.

_Rufas!_

He reached into his jacket and closed his fist around a Dark Eco crystal. He closed his eyes and concentrated, drawing the necessary power from the crystal. Once it was done, he moved out of the shadows, invisible to all.

He followed the car, checking behind him constantly to ensure there were no other vehicles behind him. Eventually he gave up and, with an athletic leap, jumped and landed with a loud CLANG! onto the back of the car.

"What was that?" the driver demanded, turning his head.

The woman at the back turned her head too, scanning the back. "Nothin', Chenka. You're losing it."

Chenka growled. "Don't tell _me_ I'm losing it! And get the kid back in the seat!"

Damas' breath stopped in his throat as he saw Rufas. He was unhurt – _thank the Precursors_ – and unknowingly looking straight at Damas. The woman said something to him and he turned back around, settling down in the seat, drawing close to the woman. Damas fought the urge to inch closer, reach out and take his nephew's hand.

_This is interesting_, he thought, crouching closer to the metal to stop him falling off. Eventually, after several sharp turns that made the Eco Sage age about fifty years and violate speed laws, the car stopped at a hotel, which Damas knew from experience to be the worse Allabinah had to offer.

"This it?" The woman's voice was dry, sarcastic.

"You don't like it, Hara'in, you can sleep in the car," Chenka said, equally dryly.

The woman sighed and offered a hand to Rufas, who closed his fingers around hers. They all got out of the car and headed towards the hotel entrance. Feeling the power from the Eco crystal drain, Damas darted from the car and found more shadows to melt into. He flipped open his communicator, dialling his sister's number.

"Nel?"

"Damas! Where are you? Why did you go?"

She sounded extremely annoyed, to say the least. Damas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Jakuelynn, calm down, I'm in Allabinah – "

"Where?"

"Where I grew up. It's a city on the edge of the Wasteland." Damas shook his head. "Anyway, I...found Rufas."

A sharp intake of breath. "_What?_"

"He's in Allabinah with two people – a man and a woman. They're staying at the Desert Sands Hotel, where I am now. Hurry, I don't think they'll be here long!"

"Damas, I owe you one!" his sister said breathlessly.

"I believe you owe me several, dear sister," he chuckled before signing off, keeping watch on the door of the hotel, heart racing in his chest.


	13. Twelve Steps

**A/N: Hello guys, thanks for reviews! JKA, did I post too late...? I missed your review :( h'anyway, here's the Chapter 12 at the usual time. Usual disclaimers apply. ~ Mika**

"How did he get to Allabinah?" Jakuelynn demanded the second she closed the communicator.

Jak shrugged helplessly. "I think there's a portal somewhere around here. Dax, you've got a good sense of smell..."

"Oh no. I am _not_ tracking Damas! You remember the last time you told me to track someone?"

They all did, but none of them wanted to. Jakuelynn shook her head to relieve herself of the memory just as Daxter dropped to the ground and pressed his nose to the tarmac, sniffing as if it his life was on the line for it. Father and daughter followed the ottsel round several corners and through several streets before coming across the pulsating, metal-ringed blue circle.

"Damas?" Jakuelynn spoke into the communicator as she stared into the ring.

"Yes?"

"We're coming to Allabinah. Meet us at the ring,"

"I will do."

"Ladies first..." Daxter said, rejoining Jak's shoulder. Jakuelynn shrugged and dived into the blue ring, closely followed by her father and his best friend.

~x~

Damas pressed himself against the stone walls as he moved back through the city, despite not needing to now Hara'in and Chenka were in the hotel.

_With Rufas_, he thought. _They were there with Rufas._

Still, one could never be completely certain. Damas considered the possibility of secondary and tertiary spies in the cities, waiting for people to search for the young prince, and possibly stopping them along the way.

He was startled when first Jakuelynn, then Jak and Daxter tumbled out of the blue portal and crashed sprawling on the dusty floor.

"You got here okay, then?" the combat racing Eco Sage chuckled lightly as he assisted his family to their feet. His sister scowled at him, her armour clanking as she brushed sand off it.

"Where's Rufas?" she demanded. "And why did you go on ahead without telling us, Damas?"

"I apologise. I...had a feeling,"

"You had a feeling?"

"Yes. I did."

"Well, you'll be feeling something else if you do that again," Jakuelynn grunted.

"Nel, there's no need to be like that," Jak scolded.

"No, she's right. I should have stated where I was going when I went off. I apologise." Damas held up his hands in an attempt to create peace.

Jakuelynn's mouth twisted to one side. "Okay. I forgive you, I guess. Now where's my son?"

"If you'd adjust your tone, I'll take you to him," her brother said, his own voice a little sharp.

She bit her lip. "Sorry, Damas."

He nodded and led them back the way he'd just run from.

~x~

_**Red Sands Hotel, Allabinah**_

"Room for three, please."

The man at reception smiled. "Of course. How long for?"

"Just for tonight," Chenka replied.

"Room for three...overnight," the man repeated out loud in a very strong Allabinan accent as he tapped the necessary buttons on the touch-screen. "That would be seventy-five, please."

Chenka whipped out his card and shoved it in the machine. The man at reception frowned a little.

"Uh, sir..."

"Yes?" the hired gun hissed through gritted teeth.

"You've put it in the wrong way," the man replied, undeterred by the tone Chenka employed.

"Oh." Chenka's temper fell. He took out the card and switched the end round. It processed without difficulty and he was soon given the key.

"Third floor, room 27. Have a good night, sir," the man said, offering another smile.

"Come on!" Hara'in hissed impatiently. "Let's just get some rest. I'm tired. The kid's beginning to droop on me." She gave the child a small shake, and his dark violet eyes snapped open. "Come on Rufas. Bed?"

The child shook his head.

Hara'in sighed through her nose. "Rufas, you're not going home."

The little boy nodded.

"No, you're not. So it's either come with us or stay in the car alone, in the dark. Metal Heads are probably hunting. They could do with a midnight snack!" Hara'in knew her voice was hard, but she couldn't help it. The boy shoved his thumb in his mouth and nodded ferverently, his eyes big and watery. The woman felt her heart break. _What am I doing?_

"Come on then," Chenka growled, sweeping past Hara'in and Rufas and up the stairs. Rufas closed his fingers around Hara'in's. They looked at each other and followed the man up to their designated room.

~x~

Jak and his daughter drew their respective Morphs out from their shoulders and slowed their pace to a whispering creeping one as they snuck up on the hotel. They crouched like animals, watching the windows of the hotel as they lit up or darkened.

"Does it _have_ to be done this way?" Jakuelynn growled, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Rather than go bursting in, frightening Rufas, possibly killing him?" her father shot back. "Yes. It has to be done this way."

"Fuck this!" the warrioress snarled, springing to her feet and almost smashing the doors of the hotel down. The man jumped in surprise.

"C-c-c-can I help you?" he stammered, clearly temporarily losing control of his bladder at the sight of a two-metre tall, well-built, pissed off warrioress with a large gun.

"Has a man, a woman and a small child recently approached your desk?" she asked, very calmly.

"Y-y-y-yes," the man stammered.

"Could you tell me which room they are in?"

"Un-un-under c-company rules I c-c-c-cannot divulge – "

"Tell me..." Jakuelynn looked at the name tag. "Siru. Do you have children, by any chance?"

Siru stumbled back, almost crashing into the board of room keys behind him. "N-n-n-n-no, wh-why?"

"Would you _like_ to have children?"

Siru suddenly realised what Jakuelynn was getting at. "Oh no. Oh please, Mar, no!"

"I'm going to ask again. Which room are they in?"

"Room t-t-t-t-t-twenty se-seven, th-third floor!" Siru stammered.

Jakuelynn nodded. "Thankyou. Have a good evening." With that, she turned tail and fled up the stairs to the third floor, Jak, Daxter and Damas close behind.

~x~

Hara'in sighed, stretching and rolling her eyes as Chenka stomped about the room, reloading every gun he had on him – which, considering he was something of a collector, was a fair few of them – and muttering to himself in general. He was one of those psychopaths whom had never known anything aside from being a psychopath and indulged in it with relish. Rufas was quiet as usual, tucked up in bed, his thumb very firmly in his mouth. He hadn't taken it out for half an hour.

"Chenka , seriously. Enough."

He stopped, turning his wide, neurotic, pale eyes on the woman. "WHAT?"

"Stop pacing about and go to sleep!"

"But my guns. They have to be – "

"Chenka, leave the damn guns alone and go to sleep."

He saluted mockingly. "Yes, _ma'am_. Since when have you been in charge, Hara'in Kahlreina?"

"Since The Voice asked me to?" she cut back, her dark green eyes narrowing. She sighed again, flopping down on the large bed, contemplating how high the standards of the room were for seventy-five. She made a mental note to come back on time off, should she be given so.

All of a sudden, the door slammed into the wall on her right, crashing to the floor. She shot up and grabbed one of Chenka's guns, pointing it at the figure filling the doorway.

As the dust settled, she saw whom it was.

"Give me back my son!"


	14. Thirteen Ghosts

**A/N: Hi everyone, thanks for reviews! Currently seven chapters (a week) ahead at the moment. This is a good distance, same as the chapter: review ratio this seems to be getting *grins* Anyway, please read, review, etc. Thankyou :) ~ Mika**

"Nel, take it easy. Take it easy!" Jak warned, his brain quickly reaching a conclusion.

She ignored her father. "Rufas, honey, close your eyes," she hissed through her teeth, eyes alight with fire and Dark Eco. "Close your eyes and don't open til I say,"

"What's the meaning of this?" the man in the room growled, his own Prototype-A gun aimed at the furious warrioress.

"My name is Jakuelynn and you stole my son!" she growled in response, wishing to tear the man limb from limb.

"I know who the fuck you are!" the man yelled. "You're not getting your son back, that's for sure!"

Jakuelynn drew in a breath, switching to the Blaster and curling her finger around the trigger. "You'd better or you'll be eating through a straw and walking with wheels until the day you die!"

"Chenka – " the woman tried to reason with the man, moving to shield Rufas.

"Leave it, Hara'in, this is _my _fight!" Chenka whined, sounding for all the world like a child denied fun.

"_Get away from him!_" The warrioress barked, eyes locked onto the woman. "That's _my_ son. Mine. And he's coming home with me!"

"You don't get it, do you, you thick bitch?" Chenka growled, red/brown eyes alight in equal if different fury. "Your son is important to us, dangerous to us. We gotta see if he's the – "

"If he's the boy in the prophecy that says he will be able to make the decision to destroy the world or destroy all evil," Jakuelynn finished without taking a breath. "I know that, Chenka. Your little boys gave the information to me."

"I told you they'd squeal!" the woman Chenka called Hara'in yelled. "I told you they couldn't be trusted!"

"Shut UP, Hara'in!" Chenka growled. More rage boiled up inside Jakuelynn as she noticed how Rufas clung to Hara'in –_ the way he used to cling to me when he was scared_, she remembered. His large violet eyes locked onto her darkening green ones.

"Nel, be careful!" she heard Damas warn, his tone smooth and calm as always, but underscored with urgency. A violent sigh shuddered through her body and she lifted the Blaster to point at the psychopathic man.

"Yes, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai. Be very fuckin' careful," Chenka hissed, clearly enjoying this. A sharp smirk that reminded Jakuelynn of a fallen enemy crossed his face, which made her tense up all the more.

"Don't tell me what to do." She narrowed her eyes. "Your accent. You're not from Haven, are you? Where are you from?"

Chenka narrowed his eyes, which were slowly turning blood-red. "None of your fuckin' business,"

"Well, you undoubtedly know everything about _me_, my _family_, my _son_," the warrioress shot back, hoping the woman whom had unquestionably partaken in the kidnapping of her son was shielding him well. "What about you, Chenka? Were your eyes always blood-red? Are you really going to blow off the head of a little boy if it turns out he's the wrong one? See his brains scattering all over the floor..." Her stomach turned violently as this image was painted in her head, but she needed to know if there was a human side to the man she felt was an absolute psychopath. He seemed to falter, but suddenly he grew furious again, his finger curled round the trigger.

"Don't you dare assume you know shit about my life, Princess!" he hissed. "I've been sent to do something _very_ specific and now I've done it, I'm going to take the boy back to the man I'm working for. So if you don't mind getting the fuck out of my way – "

She responded with an eye-roll, steadying her aim, her eyes locking with Chenka's. "You have _got_ to be kidding. By the way..." She pressurised the trigger. "Do you mind not using language like that in front of my little son?"

She released the trigger, sending a bright yellow shot sailing towards Chenka's head. Skilfully, he dodged it, zooming towards the warrioress. Instinctively, she swung the gun around, attempting to knock him on the head, but he dodged that too.

"Oh, _mano-a-mano_, is it?" she yelled, dropping the gun and propelling herself towards him, wishing to make him a new wall decoration. Chenka's face wore a split second of surprise before he sailed into the wall, crunching as he hit it. It wasn't long before he began attacking her like a wildcat, scratching, spitting and kicking at her, but she was much bigger and stronger than he was and simply gave him one slap around the face before dropping him on the floor. He sprung up and faced her, face curling in a furious sneer as he reached into his coat pocket and brought his fist out, holding it at arm's length.

"You're not much of a challenge, are you?" she snarled, curling her fist in preparation.

"You messed with the wrong hitman, Hagai," he snarled, pushing his thumb into his fist before opening it, dropping whatever was in it. The world slowed down for Jakuelynn as the thing hit, drowning all sound save her breathing and heartbeat. She saw Hara'in whirl around, snatching Rufas up in her arms just as whatever Chenka dropped on the ground exploded, the sound lazily ascending to a roar in her ears. It filled the room with a dull white smoke, which forced instinct to take over and run out of the room, covering her mouth until it cleared. When she was sure it had done so, she craned her neck around the room.

"What...?" Damas said, the wind appearing to go out of him.

There was no obvious damage to the hotel room, but Hara'in, Chenka and Rufas had disappeared.

Jakuelynn let out a scream of frustration. "Where did they go?"

Damas shrugged helplessly.

Jak and Daxter simply looked at each other, pulling faces of worry. If Jakuelynn was pissed before, she would definitely be pissed off now.


	15. Number Fourteen

**A/N: HELLO EVERYBODY!** **I'm currently editing this and chatting to Marneus on the phone so if you find any mistakes it's ALL Marneus' fault :P Love you, baby! Read, review, etc., all the usual. ~ Mika**

Back in Haven, Rhogan locked eyes with the other man across the table, steam from the small mug of hot drink in his hands slightly clouding his vision. The other man just stared back as he'd always done, his own mug empty.

_Seventy-two years old and as stubborn as he was thirty years ago_, the City Leader thought bitterly as he finished his drink. He slammed the mug down on the table and got up, pacing around the room.

"Rhogan, it's no use just – "

"Well, what do you propose we _do_ about this, then? Huh?" The City Leader's voice was diamond-hard. "You and Jak need to resolve this on your own. He hates me because of what you, Roah and my grandfather did to him and the whole of Haven. You hate Jakuelynn because _why_?"

"Her father slept with your mother," Torn muttered.

"He slept with my mother," Rhogan repeated in a flat tone. He ran his tongue over his lips briefly, his hands on his hips. "And yet you forgave my mother for sleeping with him?"

"I did, but – "

"And you repay Jak – your _friend_, your brother-in-_arms_ – you repay him for this act of treachery by selling him and his family to Roah?" Rhogan knew he was in full lawyer mode, but he couldn't help it. "Exhibit A, letting Keira Hagai be shot repeatedly, enough to kill her...Treachery in an equal measure, but more extreme than it would be if you _fucked_ her, no?"

"Rho, _stop_, okay? I know what I've done and I'm not proud..."

"I certainly hope not, either." Rhogan's mouth was simply a thin line. He sighed, the lawyer disappearing from him. "For the love of the Precursors, you and Jak need to talk it all over. There's over thirty years of hurt between you. Just heal it, if not for my sake, then for Nel's. For _our_ sake."

Torn looked at his son sharply. "Why are you saying this now?"

"Well..." It was Rhogan's turn to feel uncomfortable. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. I know Nel's not keen on marriage but I was thinking that we do something towards it. I just..." He sighed. "I want to be with her properly, but not to the point where it scares both of us."

Torn nodded. He understood completely.

"Besides which, if we do have children, it's your genes and Jak's genes in that child as well as mine and Jakuelynn's genes. If that's not a peace incentive, I don't know what is."

Torn ran his tongue over his lips. "Rho, I'm over seventy. I'm a stubborn old man and set in my ways."

"You always were, Dad," Rhogan replied dryly. "Never mind the age." He folded his arms and scrutinised his father. "Which begs the question. Why are you back in the city, anyway?"

The older man shrugged. "I'm tired of running from my own shadow. I want to be back in this place, shitty as it's been – "

"HEY! It's better than it was when YOU were my age..."

"That would be because your grandfather was ruining the city!" Torn snapped back, eyes narrowed. "Anyway...I'm tired. My sight's going and my bones are aching like shit. I'm staying for a while."

"Where are you planning on staying?" the former lawyer asked curtly.

"Here." This was accompanied by a curt nod.

"You really think that? Dad, this is my home..." Rhogan trailed off and began to move his head in a 'no' gesture, before stopping and thinking it through. He had nowhere else to stay and, despite everything that had happened; despite their fractured relationship, he was still his father. "Okay, fine. You can stay. Just don't cause trouble, okay?"

A smirk crossed Torn's face. "I'll try not to."

"But of course, you attract it like a magnet, no?"

"Like father, like girlfriend and girlfriend's father." Torn sat back down and folded his arms. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Getting her son back."

"Why am I not surprised?" Torn sighed through his nose. "She gotta vehicle?"

"Yup,"

"Jak and Daxter with her?"

"I think so."

"She's got her gun?"

"Always," Rhogan shot back. "I think she's suitably prepared."

"I've never known a Mar who wasn't,"

The City Leader frowned at his father. "Was that affection I just heard in your voice, Dad?"

Torn coughed. "No, no of course it wasn't." His face, however, was as crimson as the Guard he used to command.

~x~

Hara'in snatched Rufas up, placing him on her shoulders as Chenka got further and further away from her. The little boy was crying, howling, trying to twist back to his mother, but Hara'in kept sprinting, despite her heart breaking for the little one, despite wishing to turn back and reunite him with his mother. With a burst of speed, she caught up with Chenka, who was red-faced and angry.

"How did they find us?" he yelled, breathing not showing any signs of physical exercise. Hara'in, however, was beginning to wheeze.

"I...don't...know," she wheezed back over Rufas' cries. They reached their vehicle and dived in, Hara'in moving Rufas from her shoulders to the car. _Precursors, that boy is heavy._ She strapped herself and the boy in quickly as the car groaned under the sudden flurry of activity it was being forced to do, and it soon took off in the streets of Allabinah. Silenced by the loud roars of the car as it protested against the gear it was in, Rufas curled up around his seatbelt, thumb firmly in his mouth, and fell asleep, exhausted.

Hara'in lightly stroked the little boy's black hair as his breathing slowed to the regular rhythms of sleep. Even though her mission from the Voice was to kidnap the little boy, she couldn't help but empathise with him. Her gut wanted to yell at Chenka to stop the car, to go back to Jakuelynn and bring him back to her. Hara'in didn't know why she felt this way towards the little boy. Perhaps it was because he reminded her of her own son, whom she hadn't seen in many long years. She wondered how her ex-husband was coping; or rather, how her son was coping with her ex. She knew his temper; she knew his fists all too well, which is why she'd left. Her only regret was not taking her son with her.

Her head knew her life was over if she took the boy back to his mother – if anyone in the Voice's Service was a traitor, a lifelong hunt for him or her would emerge. She knew. She'd seen it happen years ago to a young man, when fate made him choose between his head and heart.

He'd chosen his heart. The Service had been looking for him since.

"We're getting out of this shithole!" Chenka growled, snapping Hara'in out of her reverie.

"O-okay," she said, nodding, her throat dry. _I shouldn't think of him. It weakens me._ She leant her head back and closed her eyes, drifting off into sleep quicker than expected, given the circumstances.


	16. Cause When You're Fifteen

**A/N: Thanks go to Marneus who was the only one who reviewed! I'mma let you off this time but next time I will **_**not**_** post the next chapter if no reviews are gotten. Or I'll set Jakuelynn on you. Whichever is worse. Sorry to be so demanding, but review withdrawal is worse than Jakuelynn-withdrawal. Now, read, review (compulsory) and enjoy (optional) or no Chapter...16. ~ Mika**

_The fear in her eyes. The gun. The darkness. Her stomach, round with baby._

"Damas! Hey, bro! You there?"

Damas snapped out of it, shaking his head. He had no idea why he was remembering _that_ after all these years. Perhaps it was the sight of _her_ again, his connection to that small section of his past that he deeply wanted to forget beyond desire.

"Yes, Jakuelynn?" he answered, as calm as ever, compressing his past into a cupboard at the back of his mind.

The warrioress put her hands on her hips. "Where were you?"

"Memory Lane." _The bad one_. "Sorry. What is it?"

She relaxed then, sighing, running her hands through her duo-coloured hair. "You know this city well, having grown up here. Where's the best place to stay?"

Damas gestured around the room. "I would say here, but – "

"Now, Eco racer, we all know _that_'s not gonna happen. Especially not now!" Daxter shrieked.

"Do you MIND, Daxter? You're disturbing my children," Jakuelynn snapped.

"Nel!" Jak reprimanded.

"Sorry, Daxter. Hormones. Worse than Dark Eco," Jakuelynn shrugged. Daxter pouted before he realised that Jakuelynn had apologised again.

Whilst this was occurring, Damas was once again lost in thought. He remembered when he'd first seen her many years ago, battered, bruised and scarred, having just escaped from her abusive boyfriend. She had looked frightened when she'd seen him – it had taken a long time for her to trust him. They had briefly dated – this was seventeen years ago, a long time – but she broke it off to return to her boyfriend. Two years later, both Damas and the woman became parents for the first time respectively.

_If only I could remember her name...Her real name, or at least her Service name._

Jakuelynn, meanwhile, was thumbing the pad on her communicator, pressing the button to open a line.

"Hello?" a voice crackled over the speaker. "Nel, is that you? Talk to me, VQ, tell me you're alive."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Rho, I'm fine. How are you?"

"Less fine." There was a pause as Torn's voice sounded in the background, followed by Rhogan's. "You found Rufas yet?"

"No." Jakuelynn sighed. "We got close, but they disappeared before we could get him back." She stopped, suddenly overcame with a wave of tiredness and sat down before she fainted. "I just...I don't know if we can..."

"Nel, _nil desperandum_,"

She sighed. "Rho, you're talking Latin at me again."

"Never say die," Rhogan translated, his voice soft despite the crackling of the bad line. "Keep going, Nel. You can do it. You always do,"

"But what if I can't this time, Rhogan?" she said softly. "What if I lose this time?"

There was a small sigh and a long pause before her boyfriend – her boss, the man she loved, although she'd never told him that she loved him, not properly – spoke again.

"I would come with you, Nel, but...I can't. I don't even know where you are to begin with – "

"Allabinah City, on the other side of the Wasteland. Where my brother spent his formative years."

"I see. You followed them here?"

"I did." She took a deep breath and looked down at her swollen stomach. _Tell him. Tell him now._ "Listen, Rho...I have to go...it's getting late and I'm tired." _Fuck damn it, Nel, you stupid girl._

"You? Tired? You never tire. Though I suppose after last night..." Rhogan let that trail off, chuckling.

_Tell him now!_ "Not in front of our fathers, please Rho," Jakuelynn laughed, one hand unconsciously resting over her stomach. _Tell him, Mar damn it!_

Rhogan's laugh abruptly stopped. "Is Jak here?"

"Right here, Praxis," Jak said, a hardness to his voice. "Daxter and Damas too."

"Father!" Jakuelynn hissed, glaring at Jak. "Soften thy tone, please!"

"Hello, sir," Rhogan said wearily.

"I'm taking care of my daughter, considering how you can't seem to!" Jak hissed. Jakuelynn gave him a look and shoved him away, gabbering a "Never mind, Rhogan!" before the City Leader could respond to her father. The further away their words were kept, the better.

"What was that about?"

_It's a good thing I'm over the intercom._ Jakuelynn shrugged. "I have no idea. Anyway...I'm going to go. I'll call you again soon, okay?" _No! Tell him about the babies!_

"Alright." Rhogan sighed. "I love you, Jakuelynn. Take care of yourself, yeah?"

Jakuelynn swallowed. "Yeah, me too. You as well. You t-take care of yourself." She closed the line before any more could be said, slipping it into a crevice in her clothes and hauling herself up, facing her father.

_Idiot child for not telling him_, the small voice in her brain reprimanded her.

"Yes, daughter dear?" Jak inquired rhetorically, eyes narrowed.

"I can't believe you, Father," she said coldly. "It's been sixty-two years since his grandfather betrayed and overthrew my grandfather – your _father,_ Jak – " She saw that hit home as his raw nerve was touched " – forty-two years since you were tortured by his grandfather, thirty-five years since you slept with his mother and thirty years since his aunt killed Keira. Tell me, Jak, in what part of that chronology is Rhogan mentioned?"

"Suh -_nap_!" Daxter exclaimed, snapping his fingers as he did so.

"He doesn't need to be mentioned," her father replied coldly. "What his family did was enough – "

"His _family_, Father!" Jakuelynn shot back. "His _family_. Not _him_. Not Rhogan. He changed his fucking surname to escape his family history and you still can't accept him? Precursors." She sighed, rubbing her eyes as her brother laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Nel, leave it. There's no use getting worked up about it – "

She whirled around, fire in her eyes. "Damas, I'm not yet finished. Give me some more lines." Her father was still standing there solidly, eyes narrow in fury. "Father, call me impudent, call me cheeky, throw me, Rapace and Rufas out the fucking house if it bothers you. I love Rhogan. I'm having his children and when this shit's over and done with, I'm ending it. I want to live. I want to be unlike my ancestors and grow old, dying of natural causes, with Rhogan, Rufas, Rapace and these two in here by my bed, okay?" She took a deep, shaking breath and realised she was on the edge of tears. Jak's eyes were wide as if she'd hit several nerves in that speech, which was likely to have happened. "If you can't accept our relationship after four years because of something – many things – _his_ ancestors did, then I feel sorry for you, Father. I feel _so_ sorry that you can't let go of the past."

Jak locked his jaw, his eyes once again alight with fury. The warrioress swayed a little but stood strong, covered in silver from the moon in the sky, returning her father's stare. They stared at each other for a long time before Jak turned away.

"You say I can't let go, Jakuelynn Mar Hagai," he said quietly. "You say all this stuff about wanting to settle down with Rhogan, see this pregnancy through after you get Rufas back. But when did you ever tell Rhogan that you loved him? When did you ever tell him, without prompt, "I love you"? Huh? Or are you still hung up on Deimin?"

Jakuelynn gasped, her eyes filling with tears as her knees buckled. Without another word, her father and Daxter walked away from the street, disappearing into the shadows. Damas was straight at his sister's side as she fell to her knees, not crying, not saying anything, just watching their father's back walk away from them.

Eventually, the warrioress blinked, a pool of tears falling to the dusty floor, darkening the sand.

"Nel..." Damas soothed, supporting her to her feet. "You're exhausted. Let's find somewhere for you to sleep and I'll go and find Jak. I'm sure he hasn't gone far."

The young woman was too tired to fight. She let her older brother guide her into the car and drive her to a nearby hotel – where, she didn't know. She curled up in the back and was asleep within minutes, her heart aching as badly as the day she lost Deimin, four years and two Seasons ago.


	17. A Little Less Sixteen Candles

**A/N: Yaaaaayyyy reviewwwssss! Thanks everyone for reviews and stuffs. Also, send get-wellsness to Marneus because he's not feeling too good :( and JKA, I'm British, I don't celebrate Thanksgiving so yes of course I'm gonna make you use your brain over TG weekend :PP ANYWAY! Here's chapter 16. Read, review, you know zeh drill. ~ Mika**

**PS: This is a Spot the Metaphor For The Way Jakuelynn's Lived Her Life Competition! Winner gets cookies.**

"Jak? Jak, what are you doing? Jaaaaak...!"

Still the old warrior stoically marched on, determined not to look back even as his ottselised best friend was once again chattering away in his ear, once again becoming something resembling a conscience. Or as close as he would get to a conscience.

"Hey, tough guy, you walkin' away from your daughter?"

"Yes, Daxter. I am," the fifty-nine year old replied, his tone as stoic as his march.

"Y'know, buddy, I hate ta say this, much as I love you and I'm on your side ninety-nine per cent of the time, but I actually agree with Nel. You can't hate Rhogan because of what his dad, grandpa or...well...pretty much _everyone_ in his family did to you, Damas 'n' Nel. He hasn't done anything to you, has he?"

"He knocked up my daughter, Dax, I think that's reason enough," the veteran warrior growled.

The ottsel rolled his eyes. "So did Deimin, but you didn't have a problem with that."

"Deimin..." The older man closed his eyes. "Deimin was different. He was...like a son to me. The son I thought I'd lost." He rubbed his eyes as memories of the clairvoyant came flooding back in. "Rhogan's already someone's son. The son of a traitor..." His eyes narrowed.

"He helped Jakuelynn when she was...you know...bad. In a bad way, I mean," Daxter pointed out, a little less boisterously than his nature allowed. "He got her back on her feet again, got her back to her ass-kicking self. Right, Jak?" A silence, not completely unexpected, but a silence all the same. "I said...right, Jak?"

Jak smiled. "Yeah, Dax. 's right."

"So turn your ancient arse around and get back to her! She needs you right now, you know. She's knocked up and her son's missing. Remember how you felt when Nel was – "

"Yes." Jak cut his best friend off before he could transport them both back to the terrible eighteen years they spent looking for Jakuelynn. He never wanted to go back there again.

Daxter leant back, folding his arms in a smug fashion. "Right. You turning?"

"I'm turning."

"You going back to your kids?"

"I'm going back to my kids," Jak dutifully repeated. This was an old in-joke between the two spiritual brothers, one of many they had. Daxter often used to bring it out whenever Jak and Keira had argued and he'd walked away, which had happened many times, especially with regards to raising a family. Jak shook himself out of it and looked at Daxter.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" the ottsel reprimanded him. "Get your saggy arse back there!"

"Yours ain't so tight yourself anymore," Jak chuckled as he returned the way he came.

"Hey! What do you mean? My arse is still as tight at the day I entered my teens..."

"Oh Precursors, Dax, don't talk about your thirteenth birthday, please!" Jak groaned, slapping a hand to his face.

~x~

With Jakuelynn safely asleep in the room below him, Damas stood on the roof of the place he called home for sixteen years of his life. His foster parents were long dead, their bodies with the desert, with nature as they had always desired, but they had left the house to him, should he ever need it. Which luckily, he had done for years afterwards.

He kept his eyes focused on the approximate location of the gates, waiting for them to open and close, send any sign of activity to him. The night was still, but he felt the spirit world come alive as souls from around the world departed from their physical anchors and ascended to the Precursors...or descended to Inferno. He sighed. He never liked the powerful connection he had with the spirit world – a result, his mentors had said, of witnessing his mother die and his own near-death – it was a burden on his shoulders.

He wondered if, when he had time, he should contact Oreyn, Jayelle and Kieron and see how they were. Whilst he was away, they stayed with Tess and Rapace. _Rapace_, Damas thought suddenly, distractedly. _How is he coping with his nearly-awoken –_

"Damas."

The Eco Sage broke his thoughts and turned, trying and failing to conceal his surprise at whom he saw. "Father."

"Don't look so surprised, Eco-boy. He wouldn't be here if it wasn't for my – yes, MY – convincing him," Daxter bragged. Damas heard the ring of truth behind his ottsel-uncle's words, something nobody was used to.

"Yeah...it's true," Jak added, as if to back Daxter up – which, Damas suspected, it was. "What I said was way below the belt – "

"It was directly in the figurative groin, Father, if you don't mind me saying," his son cut in, slightly defensive on his younger sister's behalf.

Jak sighed through his nose. "Where's Nel?"

"Asleep," the Eco Sage replied, curtness cleared from his voice. "She was exhausted. I've been looking out for any activity for ages, but there's been none. They've either left the city earlier or they're still there. Although..." He lifted a flat green screen seemingly out of nowhere, a pulsing red dot. "I do have this."

"Whoa. What is it?" Daxter squinted at the screen. Despite himself, Jak was also curious and leant forward.

"I put a tracker on their car earlier. This is the accompanying screen," the Sage/ racer explained. "I bought it before leaving Kras earlier, in case you wanted to know."

"That's gonna make our lives easier. Attaboy!" Jak clapped Damas hard on the back, causing the younger man to stumble forward.

"Father, we're on a roof," he said lightly, a forgiving laugh in his voice.

"Oops. Sorry." The sincerity of the apology was countered by the grin across the fifty-nine year old warrior's face.

~x~

Meanwhile, below the men, Jakuelynn was dreaming. Or, rather, night-remembering.

_She saw his eyes, an icy shade of blue. They locked with hers, he at the centre of the room, she at the edge of it. It was normal; they never sat together at official functions. They kept their relationship private, the City Leader and Protector. It was the same when his parents were younger; his mother the Leader, his father the Protector. It wasn't until after they married that they announced their relationship._

_She never took her eyes off him the entire time. He found it difficult to take his off her too, even when he was giving the speech. After the event was over, she slipped out quietly, uncharacteristically unnoticed, and departed to their room. When he eventually returned there, she was waiting for him. He had closed the door, a smile on his face as he took her in, all six feet six inches of her._

All mine_, she was sure he had thought. She welcomed him into her arms, helping him with his clothes as they were shed like a snake discarding its skin and –_

"Oh, _Rhogan_!"

She shot up in bed, trembling and hot-cheeked, hand instantly travelling to her belly.

"You're still pregnant, don't worry," came a dry voice to her left. "Although going by that shout, you were dreaming about the night that got you in that state,"

Jakuelynn's jaw tightened as she recognised that voice, swinging herself off the bed. She reached for her Morph Gun, armour clanking as she moved.

"You sleep in your armour?" her brother queried, incredulously.

"You never know when you're gonna be attacked," the twenty-nine year old replied. She'd had her fair share of being attacked whilst asleep, enough that when she was out of Sandover, she slept in her armour, Morph in hand, or at least close by.

Suddenly, something beeped and Jak and Damas looked at something in the latter's hand.

"What?" Jakuelynn asked, fighting with her hair as usual.

"Villains on the move," Jak replied. "We need to go. Now!"


	18. For The Next Seventeen Days

**A/N: HELLO everybody! Early update because I'm nice and also out tonight, which I completely forgot about :S Last update til Sunday too, as Marneus is down (TWSS) for the weekend, providing six and a half feet of snow doesn't fall over the next 24/48 hours...Anyway. Read, review, enjoy, and see y'all on Sunday. 'Cept for Marneus, whom I'll see TOMORROW! ~ Mika**

**PS: Those powers of Rapace's you were wondering about...?**

Back in Sandover City, Rapace was getting bullied by Oreyn. Having just one year's seniority over the boy did not give Rapace much authority, particularly as the adopted teenager did not have that authority.

"Freak!" Oreyn taunted cruelly.

"Shut up, Oreyn!" Rapace growled, clenching his fists.

"Yeah, Oreyn. Leave him alone!" Jayelle yelled, frowning angrily at her big brother. "'Snot his fault his mum and dad are dead. 'Sides, our mum's dead too!"

"What?" Rapace breathed.

"But we've still got our dad," Oreyn smirked evilly. "Your dad killed Rufas' dad and stole Rhogan's fiancée. And how did your dad die? Our dad ripped him apart. Piece by piece."

As this information hit Rapace, he stumbled back. "D-_Damas_ killed my dad?"

"He did," Oreyn replied cockily, head on one side. "Why? Didn't you know? What a shame."

"That's not true!" Rapace yelled, body coiled and tense. "Nelly sent my dad away. He's still alive! He's still..."

Oreyn shook his head. "Not true."

"Bullshit!" Rapace roared, suddenly transforming into an ashen-haired, ashen-skinned creature. His eyes turned completely black and long claws the same colour sprouted from his fingertips. A snarl ripping from his throat, he lunged at Oreyn as Kieron and Jayelle backed off in fear. As soon as both boys slammed to the ground, Rapace threw himself off as if Oreyn had pushed him off. The adopted teenager curled up in a ball on the floor as he reverted back to normal, his body screaming in pain. The other three sat and lay there, their eyes firmly fixed on him until he stopped writhing in pain, uttering grunts and whimpers. He lay still before them as he lifted his head, blue eyes filled with blood.

"It's...happened...again..." he gasped before he passed out, head hitting the floor.

A wave of guilt drowned Oreyn. He turned to his younger brother, speaking in Allabinan, not wishing Jayelle to understand what had just happened to Rapace. "Kieron. Medicine. Quick. Here's the key – third shelf, green bottle labelled "Counter-Darkness". Now!" He pushed his brother in the direction of the bathroom whilst Jayelle looked at her oldest brother. Whenever the Darkness surfaced at home, their Papà was always careful to put himself, Oreyn or Kieron – depending on whom was being afflicted by the Darkness – in a different room until it had passed. With the Light, it was different. The Light was safe.

"Did you know Rapace goes Dark like Papà?" she asked.

Despite their attempts by speaking in Allabinan, Jayelle had worked it out years ago. Still, the boys tried to be careful about controlling their Darkness.

Oreyn shook his head at his sister's question, jaw dropped. "I didn't. No." He sat down and scratched his head, wondering if he should find his communicator and call his father.

~x~

There are many perfect opportunities for a pregnant woman to suddenly be overwhelmed by a strong wave of nausea; standing up on top of a vehicle whose speed was in the triple figures whilst handling a machine gun was not one of them. Jakuelynn's knees buckled and she almost let go of the gun as that wave of nausea hit her.

"Jakuelynn! You OK?" her father yelled from the front. She grimaced in response, squeezing the trigger at approaching Marauders. A storm was coming and she knew she couldn't stay there much longer.

"No," she grunted once she'd stopped handling the gun.

"Damas, find a safe place and stop the car!" Jak yelled. His son steered the car to a rock cave and slammed his feet on the clutch and brake. Once everyone was recovering from being thrown forward, the warrioress slid off the back of the car, sitting on the sand against the back, her stomach revolting against her.

"Nel, talk to me," Jak said hurriedly, pulling down his scarf. "Are you OK?"

"Mm," Jakuelynn grunted as the nausea passed. Jak was the last person she wanted to talk to, after what he'd said two nights previously. She hauled herself up and faced him, feeling dizzy, her hand still over her stomach.

"D'you want to swap?" he asked in a low voice, his tone gentle, belying his reputation. She looked at him in surprise – whether at his question or the tone he used, it was never known – before nodding, unconsciously moving a strand of hair from her face. For the first time, Jak noticed his daughter's pregnancy – the glow, the way her hair suddenly looked thicker; even her slight weight gain, though he knew she'd hit him if he remarked on it.

Not for the first time, he wondered whether she should really be here.

"Nel..."

"Yes?" Her look was calm, but Jak knew that a woman's hormones were as or more dangerous than a Dark Bomb or gaggle of Metal Heads, particularly when one had pissed her off forty-eight hours previous.

_Go home, little one. Go home and protect your children. _"Listen...If..." He swallowed, his throat dry. "If all this...gets too much for you..." He took a deep breath, wrestling with words once again. "If you think your children are in danger, if you've had enough, Damas and I will carry on for you. Bring Rufas home. We'll find a way of getting you back to Sandover and...and..." He fell, devoid of words. _I'm sorry I said all that stuff about Deimin._

"Carry on for me?" Rather than feel offended, a smile crossed the warrioress' face. _Thankyou, Dad._

Jak nodded, a flicker of something passing his face. What it was, Jakuelynn was never able to tell, however long she subsequently tried to work it out. She shook her head and moved to the passenger seat as her father took to the gun.

"I don't think it's gonna be for a while, though," she called to her father.

"I knew you'd say that!" he called back.

"Why?"

He appeared from behind the turret and looked at her. "Because you're your mother's daughter."

Jakuelynn uttered a small sigh just as her brother called, "Ready?"

"Ready!" his family confirmed. The word was barely out of their mouths when the car took off across the desert at a hair-whitening speed.

~x~

"So what's your history?"

"History?" Hara'in snapped out of her memories.

"With that guy. The blue-haired one?" Chenka turned his head to one side and fixed her with a gaze. "What's your history?"

The woman's lips thinned. She barely trusted Chenka with her present and future, let alone her past. "With Saldam?"

"That his name?" Chenka said acerbically, a statement masked as a question. "You his half-sister? No, wait, that doesn't match the look on your face when you saw him. Wait..." He glanced at her. "Did you fuck him?"

Involuntarily, Hara'in flinched as if she'd been punched, her eyes closing. A slow smile spread across his face as he saw he'd hit a nerve.

"How long for?"

Hara'in did not want to answer his question. She turned her focus to the sleeping toddler next to her. _My, how he looks like his mother_, she thought absent-mindedly. _At least, when he's asleep._

"I said, how long f – "

"Chenka, you're breaking the First Rule of the Service," she replied in a clipped, curt tone. "You never enquire about the past history of a colleague – "

"Except for when it poses a danger to the target!" Chenka finished, almost triumphantly. "Hara'in, we have to kill if necessary. This will include this Saldam guy. If you are or were emotionally involved with this guy, then I suggest you – "

"I was _never_ involved with him!" Hara'in snapped, thankful that Chenka was driving, else he would have seen the flush in her muddy green eyes, the way her face reddened with the lie. "Drop it, okay?"

"Whatever you say." Chenka slowed to pay the toll before speeding up once past the barrier. "Hara'in Kahlreina, I know you inside out. If I find out you're lying, you die with them."

She closed her eyes, hanging her head. All she saw was the man only known as Saldam, and the expression on his ageless face when he'd seen her for the first time in fifteen years.


	19. Eighteen Seconds Before Sunrise

**A/N: HELLO EVERYBODY! I am back! Sorta...Well...Here's chapter 18. Also, according to Marneus, "onions are like voodoo dolls for people". Words o' wisdom, gotta love 'em. Also, 7AM nosebleeds are craaap. JSYK. Read, review, cry, laugh, shit your pants, sit bolt upright with tension...whatever. ~ Mika**

**PS: I want snow to fall in my middle-sized South England town. There's a lot of snow in this chapter.**

**PPS: Cioccolatina calda = hot chocolate. And Jak's weird moment.**

_The Perdennines_

Damas slowed the car at the bottom of a long, winding path leading up the side of a large mountain, the destination of which he knew but could not see. From Jak's shoulder, Daxter let out a long, loud, dramatic groan.

"Back here _again?_"

"You've been here before?" This was from Jakuelynn, directed mainly at her father as she saw his reaction to Daxter's protest.

"Honey, ya never paid attention in History, did ya?" Daxter shot across.

"Only the part about the Mar dynasty from Mar himself to Damas, for reasons unknown to me at the time," Jakuelynn replied smoothly. "Why?"

"Three hundred and fifty years ago, this place was known as Snowy Mountains," Jak explained.

"Yeah, and there were a LOT of Lurkers here!" Daxter exclaimed. "Trust me on this."

Jakuelynn said nothing, reaching into her bag and bringing out a thick, heavy coat, which she threw around herself, snow stinging skin as it silently fell. Try as she might, she couldn't completely conceal her bump. She cursed under her breath as biting wind reached hot skin. "Jak, Damas, are you all right for – "

"I'm fine. Focus on yourself," Jak affirmed, Damas silently giving his agreement.

"Hey! Whaddabout me? I'll freeze to death if I don't have a coat! And I'm the real hero here!"

"You have fur, Daxter," Damas chuckled. "The rest of us only have skin."

Daxter sulked for the rest of the journey up. Not that the human trio noticed this, as they were busy trying not to fall off the narrow, icy path. After a heartbeat-raising journey, they found themselves at what looked like a derelict, snow-covered hamlet. It was here that Damas took over, leading his family towards a dull green, square tent pitched right in the middle of the hamlet.

"Enter, time warrior, death child and the one who brings down kingdoms!" a high, warbling voice sounded from the tent. Jak and Jakuelynn looked at each other in confusion.

"She's talking to us. Don't worry, enter!" Damas urged, pushing them in.

"Hey! This is just like that old lady's tent back in Sandover. Please don't say there's another Onin here..." Daxter groaned, covering his eyes. "Wait. Hey, Eco boy. You KNOW her?"

"Yes. She, ah...she helped me with my Dark and Light powers," Damas whispered.

"I see that you have been reunited with your true family, Saldam Ar'Aigham. Or should I call you His Royal Highness Prince Damascus Mar? Or just Damascus Mar Hagai?"

"Just Damas, Rakeli Soraya." The Eco Sage reddened at his full name, bowing a little before the woman, who was short and very thin with pale orange hair piled on top of her head. She was very old, her yellow and orange robe swamping her in its vastness. "We have need of your assistance."

"Yes, dear child, I know." The woman billowed past her former pupil and stopped before Jakuelynn, peering through tiny glasses perched on her nose. "A piece of your soul has been stolen from you. Not the first, am I right?"

The warrioress frowned. "What do you mean?"

The Rakeli looked at the warrioress as if she was stupid before whirling back to the fire at the front of the dank tent. "The heart of your heart. The love of your life. Your sword, your shield, your soulmate. A fortnight ago it was the fourth time the day had passed since you lost him, yes?"

Jakuelynn involuntarily clutched at her heart as it began to splinter. "Deimin,"

"You bore his son," the Rakeli continued, regardless of Jakuelynn's reaction. "You found another but he does not complete you as Deimin did, although you are to the other what Deimin was to you – "

"Okay, stop!" Jakuelynn shouted, eyes filling with tears again. She blinked once and they spilled on her cheeks. "Too close to the bone."

"With all the respect of my soul, Rakeli, I fear you have gone too far," Damas said gently, attempting to defuse the situation. "Would you help us?"

"You will not travel far before you find your son, warrioress. A turn of conscience will lead you to him, or him to you...I can't be sure," the Rakeli said, her tone even. "And you, time warrior..." She turned and looked at him, graveness in her dark eyes. "Your own soul will be tested once again."

"Okay, enough!" Jakuelynn growled. "Listen, lady, enough of the riddles. Have you seen my son or the people who took him?"

"Those who demand will not get answers, Princess Mar," Soraya replied, tone as icy as the atmosphere outside. "You yourself has seen where that has led..."

~x~

_Later_

Damas clicked off his communicator and slipped it into a pocket, a long sight taking the form of white steam as snow fell around himself and his silent father. Jak was staring into the fire, blue eyes unblinking. Behind them, sheltered by the ice cave, Jakuelynn was asleep, arms once again curled protectively round her middle. Damas supposed the fact she slept in her armour was also a metaphor for how defensive she had become in the last four years. She was resting under his own insistence once they had found shelter – and a convenient vent of Yellow Eco. The fire it made crackled peacefully, the vent itself flowing soundlessly behind them. Turning Light, Damas flew around a mile perimeter of the cave, checking for enemies one last time before returning to his father, who was now making small balls of Light Eco between his palms.

"You nearly killed Keira,"

The emergence of words made Damas vocally lose his footing. "W-what?"

Jak looked up, a dead look in his eyes. "When Keira was pregnant with you. You had inherited my Light and Dark powers and they'd manifested in the womb. It nearly killed her. You and Keira were so ill after you were born because of the powers, I thought I'd lose both of you. At one point you were both at death's door. For six months, I was just so angry with myself..."

"Oh..." Damas breathed, locking his fingers together. "That explains why having Oreyn and Kieron nearly killed Rossanna."

Jak straightened up a little in surprise. "Oreyn and Kieron – "

"Have my powers." Damas gazed at his father. "Your male descendants will definitely inherit them. Which is why, should they marry, they must marry Channellers, else their sons will be poisoned by the Dark Eco in their systems,"

Jak locked his jaw, age-old self-anger resurfacing.

"I thought you knew?" Damas' face creased in concern. "Since the Channeller gene was discovered..."

"I don't read, Damas," Jak said quietly. "Especially not the science papers. Morning, Nelly,"

"Mmmm," Jakuelynn grunted, blinking sleepily. She looked so much like her son at that moment, it was lump-in-throat inducing. She also looked extremely upset, not an uncommon emotion she wore on her face in recent Seasons.

"Is everything okay, Nel?" Damas asked softly, immediately seeing what Jak was.

The warrioress shook her head, attempting to smooth her hair down. "Had a dream..." she mumbled, her blue scarf around her neck.

"What kind of dream?" Jak wanted to know.

"Simple one. Thanks." Jakuelynn sipped from the _cioccolatina calda_ her brother had just handed to her. "I was home in Sandover. Holding Rufas. It was just us in our home. H-he was asleep in my arms..." In the light of the fire, her eyes sparkled with tears. "That's all. I was just holding hm, I felt his weight, smelt his familiar toddler scent...and then I woke up and I wasn't holding him." She scrubbed an arm across her eyes to reduce the liquid in them. "Precursors damn it! I really don't – "

A crack stopped her speech. Diving to get her gun, she had it on the Vulcan and pointing in the direction of the crack before anyone had chance to draw breath, along with her father. There was a prolonged silence in which the only sounds were the fire and the breathing of the Mar clan. Footsteps sounded, softer, silenced by snow. Daxter athletically hopped onto Jak's shoulder, body coiled in tension.

"Who's there?" Jak barked, ever the leader. Silence responded. Snow continued to fall, getting in their eyes. It was blinked away as quickly as it fell.

"Don't shoot!" a light, urgent voice sounded from behind the rocks. "I have a...I have something for you."

"If it's not a weapon, then – "

"No." The owner of the voice emerged, hands high. "I have a useful set of directions, though."

All jaws dropped. Only Damas was able to identify the owner.

"Hara'in?"


	20. 19

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for reviews. Sorry about slightly late update, was distracted by...things. Snow is due tonight. Hope it delivers. Please read, review, all that jazz. Keep warm as well if you're in places with moderate climate and it's ****ing freezing as it is where I am. ~ Mika**

**PS: Translate "Senzanome" (two separate words, the split being between "a" and "n") if you desire. :D**

"You're the bitch who has my son!" Jakuelynn growled, squinting as she aimed the Vulcan between Hara'in's eyes.

"I promise you, he's safe and well!" the woman responded, panic in her voice. "He's not hurt. Put the gun down, please. I'm about to tell you something which I think will be useful."

"Why do you not have Rufas with you?" the warrioress demanded, purple lightning beginning to crackle around her limbs.

"The man with me – Chenka – is extremely dangerous and would shoot both of us if I tried to deliver him back to you," Hara'in replied, a tinge of regret colouring her voice. The warrioress narrowed her eyes as her brain processed this information before she lowered the gun. Behind her, someone uttered a sigh of relief; she wasn't sure who.

"Go on. Give your directions and clear off," she said shortly, slinging the gun around her shoulders on its strap.

Cautiously, the woman approached, palms still facing the clan. Eventually, she stopped, her dark green eyes resting over all their faces, hood fluttering in the wind. As her eyes locked with Damas', the 34-year old man stopped breathing. Eventually she took her hood down and began speaking, bringing out a map.

"Base is here." She laid the map on the ground and pointed to a large black spot in the centre of the map. "To get to it, you have to get through the Perdennines – where we are – and the Brechstoft Forest. Go through here...through the Lava Tube – "

"The Lava Tube? That's still around?" Daxter interjected.

"Yes, but it is no longer full of lava," Hara'in explained. "Anyway...go through the Tube and you'll come to a large city. Little bit like Haven, but even more crowded and dirty. Find Senzanome. It's large, a bit like the Wasteland, but with clay instead of sand. There are nine large crates labelled "waste" – in capital letters – and one of them will open to find a lift down below ground – "

"Stop. Right. There. Hara'in."

All four humans (and Ottsel) turned to see a thin man of average height with a gun and crazed look in his eye.

"You must be Chenka," Jak said coolly, Morph in hands before anyone had noticed.

The psychopath had no hesitation in his retort. "You must be Jak. Heard a lot about ya. Mind you, who hasn't?"

"_Aaannnddd_?" Daxter interjected.

Chenka's eyes flicked to the Ottsel. "Oh yeah. You. Jak's rat."

"Hey! You mind who you're talking to. I'm the _real_ hero in all of this!" Daxter proclaimed, sounding insulted.

"Yeah, sure you are," the young man replied dryly. "Hara'in, pick up the map, turn around and come back. Right now."

The woman bent down and picked up the map. As she straightened up again, slowly, her eyes locked with Damas'. The Eco Sage felt like he'd been shot in the heart as he saw those dark greens again. _It's been too long, Hara'in. Too long._

He blinked, ever the first to break contact, just as a Morph Gun clicked next to him.

Chenka chuckled. It was an icy sound that pierced every heart. "I'm sorry about Hara'in. She has a tendency to, er, disobey..." He trailed off, his eyes meeting Damas'. "Ah, Saldam. Long time, no see. I was wondering how you were after – AAAAAHHHHH! YOU _BITCH!_" he screamed, stumbling to his knees as one of them began bleeding profusely. "What was that for?"

"Try and run on _that_ NOW, Chenka," Jakuelynn replied, sweeping a hand along the barrel of the Vulcan. "Believe me, if circumstances were different, you would barely be breathing right now – AICH!" She hissed in pain as a bullet lodged itself into her forearm. Calling on her Light powers, it healed in seconds, spitting the bullet out of the wound like a bad taste in the mouth. As Chenka's jaw dropped, she took aim again. Instinct taking over, Hara'in sprung up straight and ran, grabbing the man as she flew past him, chased by an army of bullets.

"Shit!" Jakuelynn cursed, letting her Morph drop. "Missed! All of them!"

"What would that have achieved, Jakuelynn?" Damas asked her, tone as cool as the air around them. "You do not know where Rufas is, so how would you have gotten him back?"

"If Chenka had arrived a few minutes later – "

"It wouldn't have mattered!" Damas insisted, cutting her in. "Hara'in...the...Service she's part of...she doesn't volunteer information easily when asked. Why she chose to give up the location of Base, I will never know – "

"Wait, you're lying," Jak cut in, which surprised both siblings. "You say this "Service" doesn't volunteer information willingly. You knew the woman's name, although she never stated it. Chenka seemed to know you; he called you Saldam. Damas..." The veteran warrior stood before his son, both pairs of blue eyes locking with the other. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

Jakuelynn folded her arms, leaned her body to one side and stared at Damas in silent agreement. _Yes, _Saldam._ What is it you're_ _not telling us?_

Damas looked at them, knowing the game was up. With a sigh, he opened his mouth and revealed something that only the dead knew about him.

After he'd finished, his father's and sister's jaws were freezing on the floor.

~x~

Back in Sandover, Rapace got to the library and logged in, his fingers flying over the keys, heart racing. He had many questions that he knew couldn't be answered by anyone he personally asked. Finding the "Haven City Records" section of the library's network, he typed in his biological father's name, something he hadn't had to do for a long time. He shuddered as the memories came back, as they always did, involuntarily, every time his father was brought up. As the results list loaded, he unconsciously rubbed his arms. He stopped, shoving one hand under his bottom to distract himself and using the other to navigate the results.

"Rapace Krazak Birth Certificate?" he read out loud, clicking on it, thinking it wouldn't provide any answers. He read it once. Then he read it again and again, blinking in surprise.

A name was missing from the birth certificate.

Stunned, he sat back in the chair, mind processing what he'd just read.

_If Yuhmer's name isn't on there..._

His eyes widened in shock.

_That means he's not my real dad_ .


	21. Twenty Years of Snow

**A/N: HELLO everybody! Thank you for reviews and suchlike. WARNING: for the next however-many-chapters-until-this-story-ends, several bombs will be dropped. Just thought I'd say...ANYWAY! Read, review and pay attention to the Star Trek reference in this chapter. Especially YOU, Marn! Meanwhile, opening the chapter, the first of the bombs. ~ Mika**

**PS: We gots snow! Unfortunately not enough to keep me off college...This isn't the bomb, btw.**

Camp Mar was silent. Not the usual silence of sleep and certainly not the brooding silence of late. No, this was the type of silence that only mingled with the atmosphere after a revelation had just been unveiled by the last person one would expect to hold such a dark secret.

It was Daxter, irises mere pinpricks, who spoke first.

"_You_ worked for this Voice guy? More to the point, you were once his _second hand man?_"

Damas' shoulders heaved in an unheard sigh as he nodded. "Yes. I got in when I was fourteen and quickly ascended my way to the top."

"Was this before or after you decided to become a Sage?" his sister asked acerbically, eyes narrowed in fury.

"It..." Damas' voice faltered. "It...was during. I started my training when I was nine. I discovered racing at twelve, and the Service of the Voice of Many at fourteen. I cannot say why I entered the Service, but I can tell you why I left it,"

"You _left_ it?" Jak echoed in disbelief, scratching his head. "How old were you when you left it?"

"Twenty years old," his son replied quietly, knowing he was in for reproach.

The pregnant warrioress let out a "Ha...!" of scornful laughter, folding her arms and fixing her brother with the kind of gaze that told him this reproach will come from her. "Damas Mar Hagai!" She shook her head. "Who _are_ you?"

"Jakuelynn, I am and always will be your brother," he replied quietly. "Yes, I have made my mistakes, but everybody, Eco Sage or warrior, is allowed them." His blue-eyed gaze fixed upon his father. "Am I right, Father?"

Jak swallowed, nodding.

"I got a question for ya, Eco Boy," Daxter said, folding his arms and fixing his human-nephew with the same narrow-eyed gaze as his niece. "Why didja quit?"

"Why did I leave, indeed," Damas reflected quietly. He swallowed and commenced speaking, letting the words fall out of him.

~x~

_**Fifteen years ago**_

Saldam Ar' Aigham, as was his Service name, put both his hands on the front door, using Light Eco to silently unlock it. It swung open with nary a creak. He breathed out a long, deep sigh, not realising he'd been holding it for so long. Knowing that this place was secure, he called upon his Dark powers to render him invisible to every natural and mechanical sight as he skimmed over the creaky floor and up the stairs, using his natural grace and athleticism as well as the Dark powers acquired from his father.

Just as he felt the Dark power wear off, he flattened himself against a wall, where he knew the blind spot of the cameras that guarded upstairs were. Although it was inky black and he was dressed in the same shade from head to foot, he could never take any chance. Evening his breathing, he unshouldered his standard-issue Prototype A, fitting a silencer onto it.

He did not know the name of his target, although this was of course typical for the Service. They only told their Members the names of their targets once in a Daystar. He never knew why they kept the names quiet – perhaps it minimised the risk of emotional involvement. The files the organisation kept only held names, Service names, date of birth, year of Service entry and basic description. There were neither addresses nor family for fear of outside rivals or enemies discovering those files, and a way to blackmail Members or the organisation itself.

It also made it easy for the organisation to target family without knowing.

_Easy, Damas. Steady,_ he told himself as he used Light Eco once again to open the door silently. It swung open, revealing a sleeping figure in the large bed. Crossing over to the bottom of the bed, he raised the gun and let the laser rest on the figure in the bed.

Just as his finger closed over the trigger, his target moved and sat up, opening her eyes.

He dropped his gun in shock. It _thunk_ed on the floor, firing upon impact. The assassin ducked as the bullet whizzed past the tips of his ears, burying itself into the adjacent wall. The woman in bed opened her eyes fully, letting out a shocked gasp.

"_Damas?_"

"Rossanna!" he almost shouted. "Precursors...I didn't realise it was you..."

The golden-eyed woman instinctively drew back, arms protectively around her heavily pregnant stomach. "Damas...what are you doing?"

The game was up and he knew it. Dropping his shoulders, not daring to move, he spread his hands out in front of him, attempting to diffuse the situation.

"Rossanna...I'm sorry...I'm so, so sorry. I'm...I'm a Member of the Service. I've been a Member for six years. God, Rossie..."

"Precursors, Damas!" the woman gasped again, tears springing to her eyes. Damas' heart broke, knowing what he'd done was making her cry. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I c-couldn't." His voice became unstable. "If I did...I...either you would have left me or I would have had to leave. I couldn't r-risk that; I can't risk losing you, Rossie, and the Service doesn't take leavers kindly. I don't know what would happen to me, but I cannot guarantee your safety."

He watched as tears poured down the cheeks of his wife of four months. "And you were going to _kill_ me? You were going to risk our baby's life, our _son_, Damas?"

"Baby, please, trust me! I didn't know. I never knew. If I'd known I wouldn't have accepted this job. I really wouldn't..."

Rossanna Jayelle Mar Hagai swallowed, looking away from her husband. In the moonlight, she was beautiful, her curly, indigo-coloured hair falling around her face and shoulders. She was also crying, and Damas wanted nothing more than to cup her face in his hands and kiss those tears away.

He also knew he was causing them.

"D-Damas..." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "I d-don't want to...to do this to you." She moved her head and looked him straight in the eyes. "You...you have to choose. It's either me and the baby or the Service."

Damas' jaw dropped with his heart. "Rossanna – "

"_No_!" she almost shouted, more tears streaming down her face. "If you loved me...if you want a future with us...then walk away from _them_. I am not raising a family knowing that their father is a killer for hire and that _they_ could be targeted as they got older." There was an icy tone in the last words. "If you climb into this bed tonight...I'll...I'll know you've chosen your family. Walk away and you've chosen the Service."

Damas closed his eyes for a moment or two. He loved her with every cell in his body and he knew that would never falter. At the same time, if he walked away from the Service, his instinct knew he'd be putting her and their unborn child in danger.

Without another word, he slipped out of his blacks and into the arms of his wife.

~x~

_**Present day**_

Damas took a deep breath after he finished. There was a long, heavy silence, broken only by the eternal fire crackling between Damas and his father and sister.

"S-so...you chose your heart."

He looked up at his sister, whom had ventured the words. "Yes. I chose Rossanna over the Service. And I've been paying for it since."

"You think she was poisoned by a Service mole?" Jak asked quietly.

"Until now I'd always believed it was Roah," Damas replied, swallowing. "But...but who knows? Maybe Roah was a part of the Service. Maybe she was their mole. Maybe..." He threw his hands up in the air. "We could say maybe forever. But we'll never know."

Jakuelynn shook her head, sitting back down. Her back was aching from standing for so long. She reached into her clothes and her fingers found Mar's Amulet, still hanging round her neck. She had often wondered what her life would have been if she was never lost to Roah, or worse, if Jak had never found her.

_We could say maybe forever._

"I'd probably be dead if I was still under Roah," she whispered to herself.

_But we'll never know_.


	22. 21 Guns

**A/N: Hello everybody! Thanks for reviews and suchlike :D JKA: I was primarily focussed on Marneus getting the "Trek" reference, it didn't matter that you didn't **** However, I do heartily and highly recommend seeing the latest film for an introduction to the universe if you so desire. Also, it's very bloody good and my favourite film XD Anyway! Read, review, remember what that obnoxious woman from the snow village said a few chapters back. Don't worry, I'll remind you. And now, Chenka turning the cold air blue. ~ Mika**

"Owch! Ow! Shit! Fuck! Blast! Balls!"

"Chenka, shut up, or I leave you to freeze!" Hara'in snapped, furious. It was a ten-minute walk from where the Mars were to where she and Chenka had chosen to camp for the night. Luckily, she saw when they got back to camp over Chenka's complaints, little Rufas was fast asleep, curled completely under a blanket, having evidently heard neither Chenka's explicit outbursts nor Hara'in's reprimands. Even if he had, he would never say.

She dropped Chenka onto his bed and returned to her own, beside the boy. She heard the safety on his gun being removed and found it pointed at her.

"Why did you help them?"

She saw his face, stony in the light of the moon. She did not reply.

"I said, bitch, why did you help them? Why did you tell them where Base was?"

"Because I'm tired, Chenka!" she retorted, moving so that she was in front of Rufas, defending him. "I'm tired of secrecy. I'm tired of the Service. This boy, this child, this mission...It's made me reconsider my duties and priorities,"

"Which are with The Service," Chenka replied, matter-of-factly.

"Not morally. Not anymore. I'm sick of it." Hara'in discarded the empty magazine from her gun, throwing it over the edge behind her, blinking back tears.

"You do know that you'll be hunted forever once you leave?" Chenka said coldly. "Speaking of which, that Saldam guy should have been killed years ago. They're still looking for him, right?"

Hara'in just stared at him. "How do you know that?"

"Somethin' clicked when I looked at him." Chenka looked at his magazine, frowning in a way that suggested he'd encountered a problem. "I remember being told, or overhearing – can never tell which, they're one and the same to me – something about Saldam being hunted and how it had been fifteen years since they'd started looking for him. Flashback, if you wanna call it that." He re-filled the magazine, shut it and pointed it at Hara'in. "Which means that'll be two of you. I kill ya now, I'll get a double reward from The Voice, maybe even a promotion."

"Chenka...H-he..." Hara'in's throat was dry. "The Voice won't know why you killed me,"

"On the contrary, The Voice knows everything. He doesn't have a body; he's just a spirit. He could be possessing me right now, or you. Or even the kid. None of us know it..."

"That's just a myth, Chenka," she said, but her voice was wobbling. She felt a warm hand close around her fingers and looked down to see Rufas, wide awake and sucking his thumb. "Nobody knows who The Voice really is. Those who do know have died telling everyone else about it,"

"Because The Voice had them put down," Chenka growled. "Just like I should put you down right now!"

Without thinking, Hara'in grabbed Rufas and the blanket he was wrapped in in just one swoop of her arms, running for her life just as Chenka fired. As she sped up, Chenka tried to get up to aim at her, but fell down on his stomach, forgetting his shattered kneecap. He cried as he fell down, inadvertently firing off a shot and ultimately missing, the sound ringing out in the night sky like the sound of failure. He screamed in frustration and pain, hauling himself on his bottom and pressing his hands on his injured knee. Within seconds, Light Eco made his digits glow and rebuilt his kneecap completely.

"Hara'in Kahlreina, I will kill you. I swear it by the Service!" he growled, getting up and running in the direction he saw Hara'in run. His kneecap twinged and he stumbled, but kept running all the same.

~x~

A mile away, Damas felt something draw closer to the group. He looked at his father and sister, once again silent, once again sitting round the fire. He turned in the direction he felt whatever it was approaching, turning Light and flying closer to it.

"Damas, where are you going?" Jak called.

"I will be back," Damas promised, taking off awkwardly, but regaining smooth flight quickly. He had soon disappeared, off around the corner like a Peacemaker shot. Jakuelynn let out a small sigh, taking her Morph off her shoulder and laying it softly beside her.

Just as she did that, there was a movement between her hips.

She gasped, a hand immediately flying to her stomach, wondering if she had imagined it.

"What?" Jak's eyes were wide and Daxter sat bolt upright.

"Ssshhh!" she silenced her father frantically, waiting for more movement. Seconds passed before, suddenly, she felt another little nudge against the palm of her hand. Grinning, she looked up at her father.

"The babies moved! In fact, one of them kicked!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

"They're moving?" Jak yelped. "How far along are you?"

"What's the date today?"

"3rd day of Autumn," he replied, looking surprised that he even knew the answer.

"Then..." Jakuelynn tilted her head to one side, trying to work it out. "I must be about...twenty-two, twenty three weeks. Precursors, has it really been nine weeks since setting out to find Rufas?"

A tinge of sadness underscored her voice and Jak was quick to pick up on it. All the same, his reply was: "We did spend a week and a half in Allabinah, remember?"

"Yes." Jakuelynn sighed, running a hand over her bump. She knew time was running out; that she'd have to return to Sandover and, most importantly before she did _all_ that, tell Rhogan she was pregnant before she went into labour.

Jak shifted his body so that he would stop staring at his daughter's swollen stomach. He still couldn't believe that there were two children of Praxis inside the womb of Mar. He could not reconcile with the idea that his daughter loved the nephew of the woman who had torn their lives to pieces to the point that when they stitched them back together, the scarring still showed.

But he had to. He knew that. He knew he only had four months before the twins were due. Then...

He cleared his throat. "Good night tonight,"

"Yeah," his daughter agreed, relaxing on her back, hands folded behind her head. "Full of stars."

A small smile crossed the almost-sexagenerian's face. "Which one d'you reckon is Deimin's?"

Jakuelynn frowned as if the answer was obvious. "The brightest one, of course."

Jak chuckled. "Nah. That's Keira's." He looked at her tentatively. Face paled by the moonlight, she looked just like her mother, which always twisted his heart. Her face creased in a laughter that rang over the mountains, perhaps the first genuine bout he'd heard since Rufas was taken. When he looked back, she was asleep, shoulders rising and falling in regular rhythm.

_Wow_, he thought. _Wish I could fall asleep that quickly._

"Jak!"

"Dax? What's up, buddy?"

Daxter crept out of the shadows, leaping on to his best friend's shoulder more athletically than would be believed for an ottsel of his age. "It's Damas and that hot woman from earlier!" he hissed.

Jak got up instantly. "What are they doing?"

"Comin' this way. I almost got squashed under their feet, y'know!"

"Did the woman have Rufas with her?"

Daxter nodded as quickly as a hummingbird's drilling. "Yeah. They got Rufas. And they're coming, so put down the – Jak! WAIT! _AAAAHHHH_! I need my beauty sleep, y'know. I can't always look this handsome! And I never thought I'd say this, but _put down the gun!_"


	23. 22 Dreams

**A/N: Heya! WE GOT SNOW, thus a day off for me. YAHEY! Anyway, I know I'm seriously behind on my writing (4 chapters ahead, down from the usual 7-10), but I decided to update anyway. Because I luuurve you all. And I enjoy exorcising my "Nolan-esque" (as in Christopher, the guy behind "Inception" and the last 2 Batman films **_**et al**_**) writing tendencies. And you love it so Imma give you more. Read, review, eat cheese. ~ Mika**

Damas found the woman and small boy surprisingly quickly, considering how slow he was flying. He quickly began descending, bending his knees upon landing on the path and grabbing her shoulder just as she moved past. She gave a yell, frightening Rufas, who flinched.

"Saldam?" she gasped.

"Come on!" he grunted, grabbing her hand and running. Hitching Rufas up on her hip, Hara'in fled as fast as she could, hanging onto Damas' hand like she would drown if she let go. Every so often, she swore she heard a yell from Chenka, which sent her heart pounding. Eventually, Damas pulled her into an alcove at the side of the path, just round the corner. A dim light warmed the little nook, the adults' breathing making steam in the cold air. They were face to face and although Damas couldn't see any part of Hara'in, she could see him perfectly well.

"Hello again, Saldam," she breathed.

"Hello again, Hara'in,"

"I see you're still alive?"

"Yes," Damas hissed, eyes darting over her head to see if anyone or anything was listening. "Still alive after fifteen years,"

Hara'in let out a low whistle. "That's a long time," she whispered. "How's Rossanna doing?"

"Dead," the former hitman replied. "She was poisoned giving birth to my daughter,"

"You have children?" Hara'in's voice rose in wonderment. "I thought you said you couldn't have any..."

"Three of them." Damas shifted to press himself further in the shadows. "Two sons and a daughter."

"You're not gonna give me their names?" Hara'in couldn't resist a smile. "You always were guarded. You never told me your real name either..."

"We weren't together long enough for that to happen," Damas replied calmly. "Then you started dating _him_ openly. In fact, were we ever officially together?"

Hara'in sighed. "Saldam...you have to understand. Things were different with him. He was..." She swallowed. "Very different to you. I let him control me. Besides..." her voice softened. "You found Rossanna,"

Unconsciously, he twisted the wedding ring on his middle finger. "Yes, I did," he said, equally softly. "And she died. She's been dead for eleven years. I've been a nomad during those years..."

Feeling sympathy, she reached up and cupped his face. He saw the gleam of her eyes in the light. "You should have come back, Saldam," she told him softly. For the first time, Damas saw how her eyes glimmered in the light. He felt his heart pound.

"Why?" He reached up to take her hand from his face, but something stopped him. In the silence, he felt her own heartbeat, although they were not sufficiently touching for that to occur. "I would have been killed. My children would have been without a father."

"My son grew up without a mother to protect him," she said before she could stop herself. "I left him with his father months after giving birth to him."

"You _left_ him?" he whispered, astounded. "Why?"

She swallowed. "My commitment to the Service...it...got more intense after you left and I married him. I c-couldn't be with him anymore. B-but my child..." She closed her eyes. "I shouldn't have left him."

"You had a child with that _monster_?" Damas couldn't stop the growl in his voice. "Why?"

She shook her head. "I...I don't know. He didn't hurt me once during the pregnancy..."

He gritted his teeth. "Hara'in...you should have let me know. Really. I would have taken care of...your son."

She slid her hands off his face, folding her arms. "I had no way to get in touch with you. Besides, you were busy playing happy families with Rossanna Jayelle," she spat, her tone bitter.

The 34-year old twisted his mouth. "You never liked her, did you?"

"No," Hara'in said dryly. "In fact, I sometimes wish you _had_ done what you were sent to do and taken her out."

"She was pregnant with my son!" Damas hissed angrily. "Besides, that was the whole reason I abandoned the Service. I should have publicly declared my marriage and I didn't."

Hara'in fell silent, retracting her hands and folding them, uttering a long, deep sigh. She had married _him_ around the same time Damas married Rossanna. She'd spent the next sixteen years regretting it. She shook her head, echoing what was running through her mind.

"The past is the past. We must let it go,"

"Yes," Damas sighed. "We must." His ears pricked up, eyes scanning the blue and white night. "I think we're safe. We can rejoin my father and sister..."

"Your sister?" Hara'in raised an eyebrow sceptically. "Wouldn't she shoot me on sight?"

As if to answer her question, Damas indicated to Rufas.

"Oh yeah...I forgot about him." Hara'in breathed out slowly. She locked eyes with Damas, feeling a newly-awakened frission that had been dormant for the best part of a decade and a half. Not since that night sixteen years ago had they been in contact; not since they had been dating had he looked at her the way he was looking at her now.

In her soul, something stirred.

"We need to go," Damas said abruptly, breaking the tension that was solidifying between them. "And now, before – " _before we resurrect what died a long time ago_ " – before Chenka comes back."

_Talk to me, Saldam. Look at me._ Hara'in swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. "Y-yes," she agreed. "Let's get Rufas back to his mother."

She felt a tugging at her cloak as she emerged from the alcove and looked down to see Rufas, whose face had lit up in hope. "Yes, Rufas. That's right. We're going to bring you back to your mummy,"

The little boy jumped up and down in glee. Damas chuckled and turned the corner.

"Well, whaddayaknow, Eco boy's made a return! With...with _Rufas?_ And who are YOU?"

"Damas?" Jakuelynn murmured sleepily. "Rufas?" She sat up, blinking sleepily, eyes widening as soon as she saw her son. The little boy broke free of his uncle and ran towards his awakening mother, arms open in an expectant hug. Jakuelynn got up, removed her chestplate and took one step towards her son, sweeping him up into the biggest hug history had ever recorded, holding him tight against her body, tears coursing down her face as she breathed in that familiar toddler smell for the first time in close to a full Season. Inside, one of her babies kicked again, winding her. As she looked back up, she saw Hara'in, her eyes narrowed.

"Jakuelynn, before you say anything – "

"Is Chenka with you?" she snapped.

"No, he's not," Hara'in replied, understandably hesitant. "I...we escaped from him. H-he is looking for me, and he'll kill us all if he finds us,"

Jakuelynn frowned. "So what are we doing here? Where do we need to go?"

"Find the Service." The clarity of Hara'in's voice was diamond-hard. "Find it and destroy it as it's destroyed so many lives,"

Father and daughter looked at each other for a moment. Eventually, Jakuelynn looked back at Hara'in, nodding just once, a grim look on her face, speaking three words that would seal her fate:

"Let's do it."


	24. Nobody Likes You When You're 23

**A/N: Hello everybody, t'anks for reviews! And for feeling the sexual tension **_**tra**_** Hara'in **_**e**_** Damas. I made sure it was brick-thick. Anyway, early update as have company again tonight in ¾ of an hour. And I had the option of a day off (snow again) but I went anyway...and wasted an entire day -_- ANYWAY! Read, review, shit thyself in shock...or not if you've already worked it out. ~ Mika**

**PS: Yes, "Ace" is Rapace's nickname. Best one I could think of. :D**

_**Sandover City**_

"Aunty Tess?"

"Oh, Ace, don't call me 'Aunty'. I feel so old when you do!" the female ottsel giggled. "What is it, darling?"

"Did..." Rapace's voice was hesitant. He looked down at his twiddling thumbs. "Did you know my mother when she was here?"

Tess frowned. "Your mother? I...don't think so. Why?"

"Because...because I have D-Dark and Light p-p-powers," Rapace stammered, his face flushing red, "which I th-think means Y-Y-Y-Y-Yuhmer wasn't my f-father. I j-just want to know if my mum was seeing anyone...round...round about the time I was...I was made,"

Tess' frown deepened with none of her usual care for any wrinkles and she put her hands on her hips. For a fleeting moment, Rapace thought he was going to get told off for asking such questions, but then he remembered he was part of a family who had never done even an eighth of what his supposed father had done to him.

"What was your mother's name, honey?"

"Sara. Sara Krazak. I...I c-can't tell you what she looked like either. Was she with my father when the Underground Mark Two existed?"

Tess shook her head. "I don't think so, Ace. Think it was just you and that horrible man."

"Okay..." Rapace trailed off, shoulders slumping in a sigh. _That's my plan wasted, then._ "Thanks, Tess."

"What's up, Ace?" Tess cocked her head to one side, furry face full of concern. "Tell me everything. D'you want a hot drink? It's cold out there."

"Yes, please, Tess. It's just..." Rapace sighed and sat on a kitchen chair. "I have Dark and L-Light powers,"

Tess dropped the cup as she heard this, uttering a long gasp and turning around. "You have Dark and Light powers?"

"I know, I know!" Rapace almost shouted. "Then I looked my birth certificate up and there's a blank space where Yuh...Yuhm-mer's name should be. Could only think of two things: it's either forgetfulness or my real father has Dark and Light powers and he's passed them onto me,"

"You mean Damas?" Tess answered.

Rapace frowned. "Y-yes," he faltered, taken aback by her answer. "I...I mean..." _No way. _Damas,_ my real father?_

~x~

In the back of the car reclaimed from the bottom of the mountain, Jakuelynn gazed at her son, stroking his hair as he slept, curled up, against her. Her other hand was resting over her stomach, which in itself constantly moved with the activity of her twins.

"You thought of any names yet?"

Her father, in the driving seat as ever.

She chuckled. "I barely know the sex or sexes, so I have no names yet. Rufas, honey, don't tell me, I don't want to know," she said as her son woke up and made gestures with his hands. He frowned, jiggling up and down in his seat, waving his hands about. It was then that Jakuelynn realised he had had a vision during the night. She sat him on her lap facing her and looked him directly in the eyes, searching his dark violets for an answer.

"Roo, honey, talk to me. What did you see?" she said softly.

After a reluctant look passed over her toddler son's face, he leant forward until he was touching her stomach. He looked up at her and smiled, the look lighting his face. He sat back and unsteadily manoeuvred a chubby arm, clumsily bringing his hand up and down on one of his mother's hands. Jakuelynn soon realised he was patting her hand.

"Me?" she questioned. Rufas nodded in response. "What about me?"

A sad look came over her clairvoyant son. Not just over his face, but his entire body. Suddenly, the warrioress' heart sank.

"Is it bad?"

He nodded.

Her throat dried. "H...how bad is it? A little bit bad or a big bad?"

Rufas spread his hands apart until he could spread them no more.

"A...a big bad..." His mother felt a lump form in her throat. "What about...what about these two? Is something bad going to happen to them?"

Rufas clasped his hands together, shoulders hunching, face down. Jakuelynn knew this look from his father. It was uncertainty; uncertainty as to whether he should tell her what he'd seen behind his eyes.

"Roo, honey. Tell me."

He held up a single finger.

"One?"

He nodded. Jakuelynn sighed. _I wish he could talk_, she thought, as she had done countless times in the past.

He then put his hand on her stomach and held up one tiny finger. Once again, his mother's throat dried.

"S-something's going to happen to...to one of them. And t-to me as well." Despite herself, tears sprang to her eyes. Holding Rufas tight to her with one arm, she used the other to furiously wipe them away. Next to her, Damas looked at her, a concerned frown on his face.

"Is everything okay, Nel?"

She nodded, brushing her tears away. "Y-yeah, everything's fine."

"Are you certain?" he asked.

"Certain," she said, a small smile on her face. She kissed the top of her son's head, relaxing her grip on him as she realised she was holding him with her cyberised arm. She watched the scenery as it whipped by her, eyes still warm with tears, wondering how bad this thing was that Rufas had predicted would happen to her.

~x~

Chenka found the car he, Hara'in and the kid had travelled in and clambered in. There was a phantom pain in the knee that the hulking bitch had put the bullet in, but the Channeller powers he had had healed it. Just.

It was a shame that the kid would die once Chenka caught up with the group. Ah well, Chenka reasoned with himself. The kid would die last, although if he had any more of that Light Eco stuff, Chenka wouldn't be able to kill him anyway.

"Shit," the hit man hissed as the vehicle failed to start. He booted it with his steel-toe caps and then tried to start again. He had much more luck this time as it roared to a start, chugging as it waited for him to do something. He grinned evilly to himself as he zoomed the car up and away towards the direction he'd just seen the group's car pass.


	25. TwentyFour Reasons To Admit I'm Wrong

**A/N: HAHA I forgot about this chapter. Hello everybody, thanks for reviews! We're getting into the last 6-8 chapters of this story...I've written the last 3 and the next 3 as well. I reckon there's 2 more needed to bridge the gap. THEN WE'RE DONE. WITH THE ENTIRE TRILOGY. :O Anyway, Chapter 24. Read, review, wince. :P ~ Mika**

"Hey, what about old Green Stuff?"

"_Samos?_" Jak exclaimed, tackling a sharp left turn towards a mass of dark green waiting for him. "Precursors, Dax, he must be dead by now,"

"He's a Sage, Jak, they never die!" Daxter pointed out. "B'sides, has he ever met his grandchildren and great-grandchild before?"

"He knew Damas..." Jak trailed off as he attempted to drive and remember at the same time. "He never met you, Jakuelynn,"

"Why?" Jakuelynn leant forward, frowning.

Jak shrugged, slowing down as the clearing ahead narrowed. "I don't know. He...left long before you were born. Just went. I thought Gol and Maia had resurfaced and kidnapped him again which meant I'd have to go, but nothing else made me think that."

Jakuelynn sat back, letting her son curl up by her body like a small dog. He was sleeping, his shoulders rising and falling like his mother's emotions. Gently, she picked him up and held him close to her, wrapping him in her thick cloak, forsaking her own warmth. When he stirred, she rocked him, relishing the opportunity to reunite herself with him for the first time in the two Seasons since he was taken from her. As the car turned into the dark green mass of the thick Pine Forest, she instinctively held him closer, as if protecting him.

A "Lights, Jak?" was uttered from Daxter seconds before a flood of light painted the forest in various shades of green and brown.

"Y'know, I wouldn't mind a daughter," Jakuelynn said, out loud to herself.

Damas turned to look at her, frowning in confusion. "Pardon?"

She put a hand on her heavily pregnant stomach. "If I had a choice...with these two tucked away inside me...I...I want a daughter. A baby girl." She swallowed and looked at the star-covered sky. "I haven't had any positive female role models in my life. If I ever have a little girl of my own, I want to be a good role model for her."

"You gotta learn to stop blowin' up men's crown jewels first, Nel, _then_ we'll talk about being a positive female role model," Daxter replied dryly.

Jakuelynn narrowed her eyes just as Damas and Jak burst out laughing. As the forest closed in menacingly around them, Rufas began to whimper. His mother looked at him, concern written on her face.

"Roo, what's wrong?" the warrioress asked in a hushed tone, instantly reaching for her Morph. "Tell Mummy, darling. Is it another vision?"

In the dim light, she saw her son shake her head. An inward sigh collected in her. _When will he ever speak?_

"Are you scared?"

The little boy nodded, shivering against the cold. Kissing the pointed tips of his ears, his mother drew him in.

_Hey, Light. Help soothe my son against the dark._

Her Light side complied, surrounding Rufas completely, encouraging his own Light side out. For a while, the two intertwined, their individual brightness combining to the point where Damas, Daxter and Hara'in had to shield their eyes. When it had dimmed, Rufas was fast asleep once again, shoulders peacefully rising and falling.

"That's some ability with Eco you've got there," came a very familiar, gruff voice that made Jak slam his feet hard on the brakes.

"Who's there?" Hara'in called defensively. The pregnant warrioress narrowed her eyes at the woman, wondering what she was doing attracting attention to them.

"Who's there? Who's there? I've spent all these years in this forest and you still don't know who I am?"

"_Samos?_" Jak gasped.

"Ohh nooo!" Daxter groaned.

"Ah, you two! I was gonna call you boys, but I realise that this no longer applies anymore. You're both as white as the first Winter snowfall."

"Speak for yourself, Green Stuff!" Daxter retorted. "I'm still as young and fresh as the first day of Spring...OWCH!"

"Daxter! You're still talking! You haven't changed in the three decades since I saw you. AGH! Turn that light _off!_"

Jakuelynn was stunned as she took in the sight of a very short green man with a big beard on his chin and even bigger log on his head. Just as she sat there, jaw hanging open, the man Daxter identified as Samos turned his attention onto her.

"Keira? That you? Precursors, you've changed a _lot_ since we last met..."

"No, Samos...this is Jakuelynn. Mine and K...our daughter," Jak explained. "And the little boy in her lap is Rufas, her son,"

"Wait, wait. Keira finally had a daughter?"

Jakuelynn nodded, jaw tight, _de facto_ defensive. "I'm her. And before you say anything: no, I'm sure I'm not supposed to be this tall or muscular, I'm aware I look like Jak and yes, I always have this attitude with people I don't know."

"You've got Keira's stubbornness, that much is certain," the Green Eco Sage grumped, hitting the side of the car with the stick. "What are you all doing here, and in _that_ thing too?"

"We're going to destroy the Service," Damas spoke up, shocking everyone who heard him. "Hara'in here is on the run from them, just like I was. Just like I still am, in reality,"

"You're going to destroy the Service? In _your_ condition?" He turned the last question to the heavily pregnant grand-daughter he'd never met, who frowned in response. "Wait a minute, I'm going to be a great-grandfather? Sweet Precursors, I never thought I'd see the day!"

"Damas has got three children back home," Jakuelynn replied dryly, irritated by his attitude. "Also, I have a son. Rufas. He's four in a few weeks. Additionally, I left Sandover City when my pregnancy with these two was barely showing, so I've spent the last six months 'in this condition'." She emphasised the last three words with air quotes.

Jak shook his head, raising his eyebrows at his daughter.

"How old are you, anyway?" Samos wanted to know.

"I'm 29 years old, 30 in mid-Spring," she replied coolly.

"Yeah, she's almost _ooooold!_" Daxter chipped in, earning a piercing glare from the warrioress.

Samos banged his stick down, startling the birds in his log. "DAXter! You're still alive?"

"Alive an' talkin'," Daxter replied, "though not without some consequences." He smoothed down his silvery fur. "Lookit this! Almost lost all the colour and silky smoothness in it..."

"Pity you never used your fur to clean my HUT, eh?" Samos snapped just as the sound of another car engine reached all ears, long and pointy or furry.

"Pity you never died, huh?" Daxter muttered under his breath. Jak put a finger to his lips, listening hard as the engine got louder.

Hara'in's eyes widened.

"That's Chenka! Has to be,"

"Shit," Jak cursed. "We have to go. Samos, are you coming?"

"Who's this Chenka?"

"If you come with us, we'll explain everything?" Jakuelynn answered sweetly, controlling her temper as she unlocked her car door and laid a sleeping Rufas gently back on her lap.

"Oh, all right! But this had better be good. I can't leave the plants for too long, y'know," the Sage replied grumpily as he hopped into the vehicle. "Besides, I never liked travelling in these things."

"Oh, quit yer whinin' or we leave you behind!" Daxter exclaimed as the car took off with an almighty roar, kicking up a dirty dust cloud as it zoomed off into the thick of the forest in the middle of the night.


	26. 25 Minutes To Go

**A/N: Well hello everybody! Happy Sunday...or not. I have no desire to go anywhere tomorrow. Also, RIVELAZIONE: I've just looked at my Chapter List on Word and having written the first 27 (28 now) and the last 3, I can conclude that I only have ONE MORE CHAPTER left to draft and then I have finished the entire trilogy. Actually have no idea what I'm going to feel after finishing. Probably something akin to grief. I have also enraged my Inner Fangirl by buying my brother The Game Of Which We Do Not Speak ("The Lost Frontier") for Christmas. She is now off on a Dark-fuelled rampage. Meanwhile, the trilogy has NOT finished 'cause here's chapter 25. Read, review, wriggle a bit. Maybe. I dunno. SHUT UP MIKA. ~ Mika**

**PS: JKA: Rapace is roughly a year older than Damas' eldest.**

Deep underground, beneath a large expanse similar to the Wasteland, The Voice screamed in frustration, a scream that reverberated off the walls and struck fear into the hearts of all Service Members. It knew that Hara'in had renounced her commitment to the Service. It didn't know why, or how. It just knew.

"Voice of Many, you are in pain," an older Service member said, faking concern in his voice. He shivered with the cold and the chill infused by the scream.

"Hara'in has turned traitor!" the Voice hissed, the crystal it embodied flaring a dazzling white in anger. "Take five of your best Service members. Find her, and kill her. She is probably with Saldam – if so, kill them both, and I'll double the reward."

The man bowed. "Of course, Voice of Many."

"Of course, to find both of them, you may want their real names," the Voice said thoughtfully. The man thought to himself that if the Voice had a body and a beard, it would probably stroke the beard.

"Their...their real names?" the man said hesitantly.

"Of course!" the Voice insisted. "They're hardly going to hold a desire to associate themselves with the Service if they've turned traitor and left, are they?"

"I suppose." The man took a deep breath. "Okay. May I acquire their real names?"

There was a pause. "Saldam's real name is Damas Mar Hagai and Hara'in's – "

The man gasped. "The heir to the Sandover and Spargus City thrones? He was part of the Service?"

"DO NOT interrupt me!" the Voice boomed. "Yes, Prince Damas was once a part of the Service."

"Why did he leave?"

"I believe it was because his pregnant wife was a target," the Voice purred. Evidently, It did not have any qualms about revealing the history of past Service members.

The man shivered in the cold. "And...and Hara'in's real name, Voice of Many?" he ventured tentatively.

"Ah yes, Hara'in Kahlreina's true, mortal, common name," the Voice replied, again almost thoughtfully. "Her name is Sara Krazak, née Kahlreina. Originally from Allabinah, married a Havener and had a son whom she has not seen for most of his life. Used to date Damas, codename Saldam Ar'Aigham. They have a history together."

The man swallowed. "Th-thankyou, Voice of Many. I will do as you say." He turned tail and vanished before the Voice could tell him more information about Hara'in and Saldam – Sara and Damas – that he didn't need to know.

~x~

Rapace knew he had to be sneaky as this sort of thing was illegal in Sandover, but he had no choice. He held a burning desire to understand who his real father was, and how close to home he was if the teenager knew him personally. Oreyn, Jayelle and Kieron were stuck at the semi-empty Mar household – in fact, an unexpected snowstorm had brought the whole city to a halt, having never experienced such a storm before. Heavy flakes had fallen the previous night and continuing to fall, with desert whispers and secondary rumours claiming that the storm had drifted all the way from the Perdennines.

Rapace was never one to be restricted by something as simple as a snowstorm, a trait he shared with a few members of his adopted family.

Stomach still twinging in agony from his Dark episode the previous night, he wrapped up well, concealing the small plastic bag in an inside pocket. Snatching up his keys, he made sure all the doors and windows were locked before hurrying out, the snow overpowering his thick, waterproof boots, chilling his feet as it slipped inside them. Drawing close to himself, he hurried down the street, Eco-white snow blinding him, forcing him to look up. Flakes obscured his vision and the city became a blur before him even as he ran, ran faster and harder than the time with his father –

_Yuhmer, Rapace._

– than the time with the tyrannical Yuhmer.

The man he'd addressed as "Dad" in a scared whimper for so long. Not "called". Not willingly.

Eventually, he reached the place he knew he had to go. He'd looked it up the night before, writing down the address on a slip of paper which he now held in his hands. Looking at the ground to check for deadly ice, black or otherwise, he navigated snow-weighted Zoomers abandoned on the streets, well-trodden corners and tight streets to finally reach this place. He shook the snow off himself before approaching the help desk.

"Hello, Rapace M-Mar?"

The lady at the desk uttered a little "oh" before greeting the teenager with a smile. "Rapace Mar at fourteen hours twenty? Sit down right over there. Someone should be with you shortly."

"Thankyou," Rapace croaked, taking one of the hard plastic seats. Try as he might – and it wasn't due to the hard seats in question – he could not force his body in any other position than bolt upright. Minutes stretched, passing almost lazily but agonisingly as every sound unnerved him, every vocal sound made him jump.

It was lucky he looked older than he was and Oreyn was a fantastic forger of his father's handwriting, otherwise Rapace would surely have been taken in for questioning.

"Rapace Mar?"

As he ascended from his seat, he felt the eyes of the others in the waiting room on him. He tried to ignore them, but his face and neck were completely red, like a turkey's at Winter Festival Celebrations. He was met by a kind-faced man who shook his hand when he entered the room.

"Hello, sir. Do you have the swab with you?"

"Uh...y-yes, I do," Rapace stammered, going redder by the second, feeling certain that he was betraying his age. He reached inside his coat for the plastic bag, heart pounding in relief when he clenched his hand around it. Gripping as tightly to the bag as possible, he brought it out and laid it gently on the desk, as if it was a bomb. The man in front of him snapped on latex gloves and picked up the bag, smoothing it out without damaging or altering the information contained within it.

"Okay..." The older man looked at it for several seconds before putting it on a small white table behind him. "We'll get this tested as soon as possible, but remember that it could take up to a week to process the results before they get back to you."

" 'Kay," Rapace replied stiffly. "Is...is there anything else?"

"Uhh..." The man checked his notes. "I believe not, considering you gave in the note of permission when you booked the appointment with us." He smiled at Rapace. "Thank you, and hope to see you in a week."

"Thankvyou," the teenager replied. Both men stood up and shook hands and the younger one quickly got up and exited the building quickly, face burning red against the freezing cold snow caressing his face.

He'd done the duty.

All there was left to do was sit and wait.


	27. This Is Number Twenty Six

**A/N: HELLO everybody! Thanks for reviews! Also, I have COMPLETELY finished drafting the whole story and thus the whole trilogy. It took me ages to recover from the shock...Anyway! Read, review, do the funky chicken. I don't know. Eat pancakes. They're lovely. ~ Mika**

_**Jakuelynn**_

So, this short, green, grumpy guy with a log on his head and a thick stick in his hand was my grandfather. Not only that, but he was my mother's father, which seems physically unlikely given that my mother was apparently _not_ short and green.

He was also seriously beginning to piss me off with his constant complaining, which given the circumstances – i.e. we were being chased by a psychopath who works for the same murderous organisation _my brother _worked for (something I still hadn't quite come to terms with), my father was driving at seven hundred miles an hour once again, I was heavily pregnant and, to top it all off, my Blaster magazine was empty and I had no spare ammo – was not an ideal thing to be doing.

At least we were all alive, and my son was safe, thanks to Hara'in. I looked at her – well, what I could see of her beyond my big brother. There was something in the air between them that to me just _screamed_ "past history". I have no idea why, having had any womanly tendencies stamped out of me from a young age. Clearly the intuition thing remained intact. And the pregnancy thing. Which is kinda interesting if you ask me, since I was told when Metal Heads decided to use me as a rag doll a few years ago that I was unable to have kids owing to my entire left side down to my hip being replaced by metal and wire.

Personally, I blame my father and his excessive fertility, which must have been passed down through Damas and myself.

"Hold tight!" my aforementioned overly-fertile father yelled, accelerating more, if that was even possible, without crashing into several trees. I held Rufas tightly to me despite the fact that he was still sound asleep. Through the mêlée I sent my son a little smile, his black hair whipped by the winds. That kid could sleep through a war, I swear it.

"Jakuelynn!"

"Yeah?" I yelled, tearing my attention from my son.

"You and Rufas okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine!" I yelled back. Suddenly, gunshots reached my ears and I instinctively whipped my head round the back only to be blinded by headlights. _Shit, he's caught up with us._

Suddenly, a bullet struck the side of the car.

_And firing at us too!_

"Take Rufas for me!" I yelled, handing my son to my brother and slinging my Morph around, switching it onto the Vulcan. Steadying myself and bump on my unsteady size 14s on the back of the car, I let my eyes seek Chenka and the car out – not hard, considering the psychopath was making himself very obvious with his trigger-happy tendencies – as I squeezed the trigger and let the Vulcan have his day. Bullets sparked as they struck the car, blue cartridges bouncing to the ground. Over the roar of the wind, I heard him curse as he lost control of his car even as he was continuing to fire.

_Come on, Chenka. Keep firing,_ I thought to myself, switching to the Peacemaker and letting it charge. Eventually, the ball of electricity charged up fully even as I dodged bullets and the like. Amusingly, Chenka had even begun to throw things at me, unsuccessful in his aims.

I swung the 'Maker up, locked aim, locked eyes with the man who had stolen my son and fired.

~x~

The shot from the Peacemaker whizzed in a graceful arc over the heads of Damas, Rufas and Hara'in, sailing towards Chenka, whom was not only within the field of vision of the Mar-Hagai-Kahlreina vehicle but had seen the shot aim towards him. He dived back down into the driving seat and made the mistake of braking the car just as the white ball of electricity disappeared, making the whole car glow white as it was blasted into the air by the shot.

Once Jakuelynn was satisfied that Chenka was a burning, smoking wreck along with his car far behind them in the forest, she steadied herself and sat down again, resting her Morph at her feet and reminding herself to steal as much Blaster ammunition as possible from any enemies she would later kill.

"Keep driving, Jak!" Samos yelled over the commotion as it settled, although there was no true need for him to command that. Jak was pushing the speedometer needle to the point of it cracking and breaking the instruments behind the wheel.

"Already am, Samos!" the veteran warrior yelled back, as if to confirm this. Ahead, the entire group in the car could see a series of mountains as the thick, dark pine forest cleared before them, with a large, pitch-black hole carved in it.

"We are now entering a hot, dark hole..." Jak said, half to himself.

"That's what she said," Daxter sniggered, earning a surprise slap on the head from Damas, of all people. "HEY! That's animal abuse, y'know, especially to one like myself,"

"You know, Daxter, I always thought you look better as a furry rat," Samos remarked. "And I was right! You haven't changed one bit."

"Most don't, _definitely_ you!" Daxter snarked back, rubbing his head.

"Alright, ladies, put your handbags down and focus!" Jakuelynn said.

Damas leant over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Shouldn't we be saying that to you and Hara'in?"

A collective "Oooooh" arose from the group, along with a comment of "Burrrn!" from Daxter. Suddenly, Jak braked so hard that everyone was flung forward, just inches away from the rocks that surrounded the entrance to Lava Tube.

"Well..." Daxter sighed. "Here we are. Again. For the five hundredth time since we were both young and wrinkle-free. And I had colour in my fur."

Jak rolled his eyes and shook his head at his best friend, smiling as he climbed out the car. The only sound in the air was the wind, carrying the smell of burned and destroyed car with it.

Jakuelynn hauled herself out of the car, making a "woof" sound as one of the twins kicked again. "'S kinda cold here,"

"Really? I never noticed," Samos replied.

"No, because you've been here for at least thirty years," Daxter muttered, not wishing to provoke the ire of Samos once again.

"Right, let's do this," Jak said in a very determined manner.

Suddenly, there was a high-pitched whizzing sound that got louder and louder the closer to the group it got. A sting in the backs of their respective neck made first Jakuelynn, then Damas, Hara'in, Samos, Jak and Daxter gasp before slumping to the ground, rendered unconscious by the sleep darts buried in their necks.

A chuckle rang out over the unconscious group as Chenka materialised, holding a dart gun aloft.

"Knew this would come in handy someday," he snickered, hauling the bodies back into the car and climbing into the seat. Starting the car, the low chuckle continued in his throat as he drove off into the Lava Tube entrance, swallowed up by the darkness within.


	28. 27

**A/N: Hello everybody...and Moon-Angel-Eyes, hello, thanks for the constructive criticism -_- You guys completely forgot that Chenka could heal himself, didn't you? Thought you did. Ah well...it's irrelevant in this chapter's context anyway. Read, review, enjoy the Rhogan-Torn interaction. ~ Mika**

"Snow?" Torn gasped, back in Sandover City. "Since when has Haven...sorry, Sandover...had snow?"

"Since roundabout the middle of last week," Rhogan replied coolly, clutching a cup of hot drink in his hand. He was profoundly irritated and tired – the snow had disrupted most of the important procedures on this day that were vital to the running of the city, including the annual Defence Report (taken by Jakuelynn's second-in-command as Jakuelynn was still attempting to find her son).

"We never had snow before..." Torn remarked.

"How would you know? You've only been in the city full-time for a month!" Rhogan snapped, regretting it instantly. "Sorry, Dad."

Torn shrugged. "Eh, you're right." He studied his only son and heir for a few moments, attempting to read him, which was very difficult without the use of a deadly and/or powerful weapon brandishing in his face.

A long silence passed between father and son as both became embroiled in their own thoughts. Eventually, the seventy-one-year old spoke up.

"You miss her, don't you? And...you're worried about her."

Rhogan did not respond physically or verbally for several long, stretched out minutes, turning to face the windows. Eventually, dropping his shoulders and his guard, he nodded once.

"Yes, Dad, I am. Horribly."

His tone was as cold as the weather outside. Torn uttered an inward sigh, wondering whether the ice between them was ever going to fully break. There were some cracks but not quite enough to weaken it. Once again, he acknowledged and accepted that this was his fault; that he was hard on Rhogan during his childhood.

"So call her," he said before his brain acknowledged the words.

Rhogan turned, frowning in surprise.

"Call her?"

Torn nodded. "She's your girlfriend, right? So call her."

The former lawyer slapped his head. "Course. I forgot about that, what with the sudden snow onset disrupting the city's runnings,"

"Really? Snow's done that?" Torn creased his aged forehead in a frown. "Mind you, worse has happened to set this city off-kilter..."

"Yeah, Dad, I know," Rhogan said softly, looking at his father. For the first time in the years Rhogan had known him, Torn wore his age on his face. Like Jak's, it was creased with years of struggle and hardship. There was something else in his face when Rhogan did not see in Jak's, apart from ancient, generational hostility.

There was regret.

Rhogan snatched up his communicator and pressed hard on the speed-dial which connected him to the warrioress, wherever she was. His heart thrummed as the line connected, hands cold and face hot with fear and excitement.

~x~

Chenka strode across the echoing cave and stopped before the glowing white crystal containing The Voice. He stopped before it and bowed.

"Master, it is Chenka Kinyeilo. I have news, may I profess it to you?"

"Ah, Chenka, my boy." There was a deep chuckle. "I knew I could rely on you. Tell me, is it good news?"

"It's news worth all the gold in the world," the hit man replied breathlessly. "I have found Hara'in and Saldam as well as the child and his mother,"

"And his mother?" The Voice repeated sharply. "Are they separated?"

"Of course they are!" Chenka insisted. "The child is in the Experimentation Room right now. Fully asleep – sedated – "

"I told you not to give him anything!" The Voice snapped. "Is he healthy? Unharmed?"

Chenka nodded. "Completely. The Medical team gave him an twice-over. No scratches, no physical trauma. He's perfectly healthy and ready for the experiments."

"Excellent," the Voice purred. "Make sure to get the log ready as well. We need to record the length of time of the Mar child's survival."

"And Jakuelynn? The mother?" Chenka swallowed. "She's heavily pregnant. Expecting."

If The Voice had a body, it would have sat forward with interest. "Expecting? One or two?"

"Twins," Chenka replied. "From what we can see, twin girls. Whether they have Channeller powers or not is unsure – "

"Never mind all that!" The Voice snapped. "Induce labour when the woman's awake. Take them. They can be raised, trained into efficient killers. Given their family background, I'm sure that will be no problem whatsoever."

There was a silence, save for the eternal wind that whistled, high-pitched, in the room. Chenka remained stoically still, though he could not stop his muscles from shivering involuntarily from the cold wind.

"Go, Chenka," The Voice commanded. "Go and carry out the plans I gave you. Kill Saldam and Hara'in, together or apart, I don't care. Induce labour and dispose of Jakuelynn when the babies are born. Put them in an incubator in our Emergency Ward whether they're premature or not. After you've done all that, go to the Experimentation room. When the child is awake, start the injection cycles. Finish for the day at the twenty-fourth hour, recording any changes to the child."

Chenka swallowed, nodding. "It will be done, Voice of Many," he affirmed, though his voice was wavering. He had the strong feeling that none of the adults – Jakuelynn included, even in her heavily pregnant condition – would go down without a fight.

He turned and strode down the corridor, cloak billowing behind him, his mind turning and reeling as the darkness before him swallowed him up. He wasn't sure why his mind was being like this; usually, he was happy to kill anyone he was asked to, man, woman or child. It gave him a rush akin to sexual excitement; a high that came quickly but was all too brief.

_Chenka! Are you developing a conscience?_

"No! Of course not. I don't got no conscience. Chenka doesn't have a conscience..." he muttered to himself as he passed the hallway, earning strange looks from passers-by. In turn, they earned a "What are YOU staring at?" from him.


	29. 28 Days Later

**A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks fur reviews and the like. Be sure to do the same with this one please...it is kinda nice. ~ Mika**

Breathing. Heavy breathing, the type caused by a constricted throat when somebody faces their phobia.

For Jakuelynn, it was the awakening into pitch black darkness that also awoke her phobia of that very same thing. She didn't know how she got there or why she was there, but she was surrounded, wrapped up, _consumed_ in total darkness, and she was scared witless.

"D-Damas?" she choked, fighting to normalise her breathing. "Rufas? Hara'in?"

Using her hands to feel around, she discovered that she was resting on a soft, wet, earthy substance whilst her back was propped up against a hard, rough surface. Instantly, her mind flashed back to the time four years ago when she woke up chained to a hard wall, a cybernetic version of her archnemesis parading around in front of her. One Peacemaker in the gap below said archnemesis' skull had sorted her out.

This time, she was not chained.

_Light, come forth. Help me to see._

The gentle glow of Light filled and surrounded her body, allowing her to see where she was and instantly dissipating the phobia Roah Praxis had conditioned her into by Dark Eco torture. Instantly, she saw that she was in a narrow, rectangular cell, a hair's breadth more than her own width. She saw her cell was one of many in a long row, separated from another by a corridor.

She also saw that there was another presence in one of the cells, someone who was beginning to stir. A groan reached the warrioress' ears from the moving presence and, returning back to her normal self, she called out the same series of names.

"Jakuelynn, is that you?"

"Hara'in!" the warrioress shouted, relieved to hear a living voice, even if it was the woman who took her son. "You okay?"

"Got a headache," the former assassin groaned. "Otherwise I'm fine. What about you and the babies?"

Jakuelynn waited until she felt movement from her twins before replying. "We're all fine..."

"Heard anything from Damas, Jak or Samos?" the older woman asked.

"Why do you care?" the younger replied harshly. "They're probably all dead, and it's your fault!"

"Hey, easy!" Hara'in snapped. "I returned your son, didn't I? Speaking of which, is he in your cell?"

"No, he's not." Dry panic suffocated Jakuelynn once again as she realised he was missing. "Rufas? Roo, honey, can you hear me? Knock on the wall if you can!"

Silence responded to her voice. Not even a knock.

"He's probably been taken to the Experimentation Room," Hara'in told her, voice trembling.

"The Experimentation Room?" Jakuelynn gasped. "They're going to pump Dark Eco into _my son?_"

"Pr-probably not Dark Eco!" Hara'in protested, silently glad she was not in the same cell as the warrioress. "But they're going to see what his limits are and then go beyond them, killing him."

"_HE'S MY FUCKING SON!_" Jakuelynn screamed, grabbing the bars of the cell and attempting to wrench them apart, her Dark side begging to take over. Despite all her strength and power, the bars didn't move. Not a single millimetre.

"Jakuelynn! JAKUELYNN! There is no point in trying! Those bars are reinforced! Nobody has _ever_ escaped them! Please, stop, or you'll hurt yourself or your children!" Hara'in cried, seemingly to no effect. The warrioress seemed to stop, stagger back, hit the wall and then slump against it to the floor, exhausted from her fury and anger.

"Hara'in, they're going to kill Rufas!" she rasped, her voice cracking. "They're going to pump all sorts of shit into him, they're going to fucking kill him...H-he's only three, Hara'in. He's only small. He can barely handle his Dark and Light sides, let alone extra...extra Eco. He'll buckle. I need to s-save him...I need..." She took a deep and shaky breath, uttering involuntary whimpers as she released it. "H-he-he's my only little one...and the one reminder of his f-father that...that I have..."

Hara'in listened as the warrioress openly wept in the cell opposite her, her own eyes warming with tears. The desperation of the young mother to reach her son reminded the older woman of her own desperate attempts to take on assignments that were at least in the vicinity of her son, just so that she was at least given a slight chance to take him back. They were forever in vain, however. Something always went wrong, or they were in the wrong area.

When the pregnant warrioress' sobs had subsided, it was then the former Servicewoman chose to speak.

"Jakuelynn..."

"What?" the young woman snapped, voice thick with the aftermath of her unexpected breakdown.

"I think...I think it's time I told you about my son,"

"Your son?" she replied acerbically. "The one you left to his father?"

"Yes," Hara'in replied faintly. "Listen. It...I think you know him...you may do, you may not. You d-definitely knew his supposed father and know his real father."

"Hara'in, I...you're confusing me," the warrioress said, but in a softer tone.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry." She took a deep breath. "I pr-probably shouldn't tell you this, but considering we may all be dead, I feel like I must tell someone." She leant against the wall as the warrioress pressed her face against the bars of her cell, hands wrapped around them. "Hara'in is only my Service name. My real name is Sara Kahlreina. I...I used to date your brother, whom I only knew up to recently as Saldam Ar'Aigham – "

"That's what I knew him as until he revealed the truth to me!" Jakuelynn cried before realising she'd interrupted the woman. "Sorry. Carry on."

Hara'in/ Sara cleared her throat. "We broke up for a couple of years, during which time I dated someone outside the Service. It...was only meant to be a temporary break, but this...my new boyfriend was a monster. He verbally, physically, mentally and sexually abused me for such a long time, imprisoning me in the relationship. Made me too terrified to say or do anything to change it. When we married and I got pregnant, it stopped. B-but after having my son...it kicked off again, particularly when my husband found out my son wasn't his."

"Was it my brother's son?" Jakuelynn asked. "Is...was he your son's real father?"

Hara'in nodded, before realising it was pitch-black and the warrioress couldn't see it. "Yes. Yes he was. It was one night...just one night...and...I missed him, you know?"

"One night is all you need," Jakuelynn said reflectively, remembering the day Rufas was conceived, the day of her twenty-fifth birthday.

"I know..." Hara'in trailed off. "I left the resulting child with the monster of a dad. I...I don't know whether he's alive or they're both dead. I like to think h-he's still alive. But with him? With his supposed dad? You never know..."

The younger woman swallowed. "What was your son's name? You said I might know him..."

"Or you might not," the older one countered. "His name – the name I chose – was Rapace. Rapace Yuhmerevich Krazak."


	30. Back When I Was Number 29

**A/N: Hello everybody! Good news: the trilogy WILL end on this coming Sunday (11****th**** December) with a double update as per usual. Also, is pure bliss.**

**I realise there is no point now but for future readers, I'm upping the rating to M because of what happens in this chapter. I thought it was another chapter or so...Yucky violence warning. Don't say I didn't. ~ Mika**

"Rapace!" Jakuelynn blurted, nearly falling over in shock. "I know him! In fact...in fact, I adopted him four years ago!"

"Really? H-h-how was he? Was he okay? Alive?" Sara stammered, suddenly losing control of her speech.

"He's still alive, but badly hurt physically and emotionally. He's now Rapace Mar."

Sara laughed. "It's good to know he's in safe hands with you, Jak and Damas. What happened to Yuhmer, then?"

Jakuelynn took a deep breath. "H-he killed...Deimin when I was expecting Rufas. After he was born I was banished from the city by him. I spent the next Season looking for Deimin's killer, eventually finding out that it was him and that Roah Praxis – whom I supposedly killed seven years previously – had ordered his death,"

"Roah Praxis?" Sara almost shrieked.

"You knew her?"

"She was a part of the Service f-for some time. She left active service after Damas and I joined but continued to work in Haven..."

"I know..." Jakuelynn said faintly. "She was the one who decimated Dad's family, making him think Damas was dead and I was lost." She covered her mouth in surprise as she realised she'd just called Jak "Dad" openly.

"You call Jak "Dad"?" Sara asked softly.

"It's...the first time I've called him that openly," the warrioress replied, equally softly. "Anyway, Roah. You _knew_ her?"

"She was the one who poisoned Damas' wife on orders from the Service as part of a revenge plot," Sara said quietly.

Jakuelynn frowned. "She did?"

"That doesn't surprise me one bit. She was such a bitch," an old, rough, male voice grunted.

The warrioress' heart lifted. "Jak! You're alive?"

"Got woken up by you two hens clucking," he grumbled. "So, Hara'in, you're Rapace's mother?"

"My name's Sara, sir," the middle-aged woman said quietly, respectfully. "And yes...I left him to Yuhmer a long time ago,"

"YOU left him to YUHMER? What _were_ you thinkin', girl?"

"Hello, Uncle Dax," Jakuelynn said dryly, rolling her eyes.

"Ughh, my head..." Jak groaned. "Hey, is Samos awake yet?"

"Don't think so," his daughter replied. "At least, I haven't heard anything from him yet..."

"Honey, believe me, you'd hear Samos if he was awake," Daxter replied, tone desert-dry.

Suddenly, the sound of approaching footsteps reached their ears. They all shut up, slamming their eyes shut as light flooded them, making them silently scream. A metallic, silvery, jingling sound reached their ears not long after. Instinctively, Jakuelynn laid herself back down on the floor facing the bars, eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

"Gooooooood MORNing, ladies and gentlemen! And Ottsels too."

"Chenka!" Sara growled. "I knew it would be you."

Chenka chuckled as he stopped in front of a cell. Jakuelynn opened her eyes slowly to see a pair of thin, male legs standing on the other side of the bars. She kept her eyesight to a slit, hoping that it would fool the psychotic hit man on the other side of the bars.

"I don't want you yet, Hara'in. I want the traitor's sister. The pregnant one. HEY! YOU!" He rattled the bars, further provoking Jakuelynn's irritation. "You awake? Huh, never mind..." He walked away and Jakuelynn heard the rattle of keys and a creak as the door swung open and he stepped inside. His boots squelched in the mud of the cell floor as he walked in. The warrioress felt a shooting pain as he kicked her leg.

"Wake the fuck up, bitch. We got some babies to deliver,"

_Oh no you're not, dick_, Jakuelynn thought, not moving a muscle. Eventually, there was a compression of colour as Chenka bent down on his knees.

"Fine, we'll do it here – "

Quick as a flash, she adjusted herself and shot out both arms, her mechanised one around his neck, her human one around the wrist below the syringe he was about to put in her. She made sure she squeezed slowly, the pressure increasing as he choked and whimpered.

She also made sure he could see the fury and hatred in her eyes.

"Ah, Chenka...I was counting on the time when I could properly kill you for what you did to my son," she said icily, standing herself up whilst maintaining a grip on the hit man's throat and wrist. Pleasingly, she saw, he had now dropped the syringe, his face turning an ugly shade of purple. "Listen. Where is the Experimentation Room?"

Chenka's eyes shifted in panic as the veins in his eyes stood out. The warrioress relaxed her grip slightly on his throat and released his wrist, having no need to keep it in a death-grip any longer.

"Why...should...I...tell...you?"

"Because I will keep squeezing until you stop breathing!" Jakuelynn growled, the Darkness swirling in her eyes. "Would you like a slow and painful death, Chenka? Or would you like a quick one?"

The inherently doomed hit man shook his head wildly. "Left...f-from this cell...then l-left at...the end of the cell rows. K-k-k-keep going...for three doors...and then...you'll reach it..."

"Thank you," the warrioress said icily. "And now, as promised, your quick death. Bye, Chenka. It's been nice killing you." With another word, she used her other hand to slowly twist Chenka's head 180 degrees, successfully snapping his neck, killing him instantly. She turned towards the left wall and flung his body hard towards the opposite wall, breaking more bones as he crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. Diving down, she grabbed the keys from his belt and freed the others, including Damas and Samos, whom had just woken up.

"Jakuelynn, you're free?" her brother said groggily. "How did you get the keys off Chenka?"

"Well, it was easy," she shrugged. "He didn't put up a fight."

Damas slid his eyes across, catching the crumpled remains of Chenka and letting out a soft "oh" as he did so.

"Come on, then," Sara said. "Let's go take down the Service,"

"And rescue my son," Jakuelynn said.

"And rescue your son," Sara agreed. The two women nodded at each other, mutual understanding finally reached.

Damas scratched his head. "Did you two have a heart-to-heart in the last hour or so?" he asked as the group moved off towards the end of the cell rows, led by Jakuelynn.

"Something like that," Sara replied, keeping close to her former lover. "I told her about Rapace,"

"Rapace?"

"My son. I believe your sister adopted him four years back,"

"Rapa...Rapace! Rapace Krazak? He's your son?"

Sara nodded, a sad look passing her face. "He's your son, too, Damas. You're his real father,"

Damas nodded. "I worked that out when my Darkness took over him for the first time. Was it that night sixteen years ago?"

Sara nodded, taking his hand. "It was. Best night of my younger years."

Damas smiled, lacing his fingers with hers. "And mine."

~x~

"Take me to the Experimentation Room!" The Voice commanded a nearby Service Member.

"Yes, Voice of Many," he loyally replied, covering his hands with the necessary cloth and gently lifting the white crystal off its stand. Walking slowly for additional care in carrying the crystal, the Member made his way to the Experimentation Room.

"They have found the boy, I presume?" he dared to venture.

"They have. Chenka has – and the boy's mother, father, grandfather, uncle and Hara'in as well. Apparently, they are all under lock in the rows of cells by the Experimentation Room, drugged and asleep,"

"Excellent. He shall receive his due award when we meet him. Where is he now?"

"In the Experimentation Room, one can hope," the Service Member duly replied, knowing exactly what his employer wanted to hear. Clutching the medium-sized, heavy white crystal to him, he pushed the door open gingerly...

...and found a two-metre tall, heavily pregnant warrioress pointing what looked like a shotgun at his head.

"You The Voice?" she demanded, green eyes narrow and furious.

"I am The Voice!" the crystal demanded. "What are you doing here? You are supposed to be in labour! Where is Chenka?"

"Chenka's in a bit of a mess at the moment, I'm afraid," the warrioress said coldly. "And you? Glowing white crystal? YOU'RE The Voice? Precursors, you're disappointing,"

"How dare you!" The Voice boomed. It was then that Jakuelynn noticed the other members of staff in the room all had their weapons pointed at the Mar-Hagai-Krazak group, all of whom had their own weapons out.

"By the way, thank you for making my armour and gun easy to find," Jakuelynn said coolly. "Putting it in a cupboard by the Experimentation Room is a really shitty idea, for future reference."

The Voice growled in frustration. "Well done for making it this far, but your attempts are in vain. You will all die before sundown!" It threatened. "You! Put me down and go!"

"Yes sir!" the Service Member said, hastily laying the crystal on the centre table of the room and departing as per his boss' request.

"Well, Princess Jakuelynn Mar," The Voice purred. "You do find yourself in a bit of a predicament. You move one inch and my Members are ready to kill you, your twins and your family. You don't move and Rufas – your child, your only living son, the one with the power to save or destroy the entire world – dies too."

Jakuelynn said nothing, her breathing heavy as she realised this mysterious entity was correct. _It's my life or Rufas'. What choice is that?_

"So, which is it to be, Mar? Who will you save?" The Voice continued. "Your life and the lives of your unborn twins? Or your son's life?"

The pregnant warrioress' eyes flickered between those of her strapped in son and of her family. Her sight also took in the handful of Service Members in the room, nothing in their eyes but dogmatic faith to the service of an entity; a shining white crystal.

Eyes filling with tears, heart thrumming like a hummingbird, she drew her eyes slowly back to the blinding crystal.

"I choose to save my son!" she yelled, activating her Light Shield and diving towards the table to which her son was strapped just as the Members opened fire, her Shield dissolving quickly as her minimal Light Eco supply drained. Her family responded by opening fire on the Members and she heard the sound of bullets striking flesh, wall, metal.

She dissolved the shield and unstrapped her son, yelling "DAMAS!"

Luckily, her brother heard her, stopped firing and ran to catch Rufas as she threw him towards him. Her brother caught his little nephew and held him close to his body.

"_RUN!_" Jakuelynn screamed, switching her Morph Gun to the Gyro Buster just as everyone evacuated the room. Tears filling her eyes, she swung the Nova to point at the crystal even as bullets sank into her body.

_You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, Nelly._

She switched to the Super Nova and solidified her aim.

"What are you doing?" The Voice cried.

She squeezed the trigger.

"I love you, Rhogan Tornerò Lacolonna," she whispered, tears running down her face.

She fired.

The bomb hissed as it left the barrel, hitting the crystal after a graceful, steamy arc.

And the whole world went white.


	31. 30 Days of Night

**A****/N: FINAL CHAPTER! By the way: before you read this chapter, go onto YouTube or whatever music streaming service you listen to, find Brandon Flowers' "Only The Young" and listen to it whilst reading this chapter. Wanna know why? It inspired the crux of it and helped with emotion. Also, if you want a pretty accurate representation of Jakuelynn, drawn by my lovely, lovely, shithead boyfriend (I love you too, baby!) then use the link at the end but remember to take out spaces.**** Thankyou :D Read, review, enjoy, get tissues ready, see you Sunday/ tomorrow. ~ Mika**

Jak knew even before his daughter pulled the trigger that the Super Nova was being used. Instincts kicking in, he turned Light, sprouted wings, grabbed Samos and flew as high and as quickly as he could. His son soon followed suit, gripping tightly onto Sara and Rufas as he overtook his father under directions from Sara until they were all free, fresh air whipping their faces as they zoomed across the sky, the vast, dust-and-clay mix of Senzanome below them.

Jak didn't hear the roar that came after the large explosion that followed them, nor the loud cracks and _thump_ as his daughter's body sailed over them and hit the dusty clay below. Descending, hitting the ground, he saw everything with sharper vision than he expected and he ran, faster and harder than he'd ever run in his fifty-nine years. He did not hear anyone else land; his heart was in his ears, his breathing dominating every sound. He saw Jakuelynn writhe on the ground, her back burning, her face screwed up in pain, the details reaching his eyes as he drew closer to her.

He reverted back to normal and said, yelled, _screamed_ something, but he didn't hear it. Was it her name? Was it a shout? Was it _Keira's_ name? He didn't know and he didn't care either.

As he skidded to a halt by Jakuelynn, kneeling beside her, his senses began functioning again. She was on her back, suffocating the flames, the armour black, twisted and blasted, her face equally blackened and bloody. She said nothing, but her green eyes held the agony of her body.

"Nel! Talk to me, please. Can you hear me?" her father gasped desperately, his hands hovering over her.

"Help..." she choked, blood dribbling from her mouth. Instinctively, as if she was a baby, Jak slid one arm gently under her charred shoulders, wincing as she whimpered in pain. He supported her as she fell, throwing her arms around him for stability. Noticing how burning hot she was, he tightened his grip around her, rocking her back and forth, trying to soothe her as pain ripped through her body and his soul.

"Nel, darling, it's going to be okay. It's..." The words died in Jak's throat as he saw the severity of her injuries. The whole of her back was black and red and he could see burn blisters swelling around the craters that were very large bullet holes.

_The babies_, he thought with a panic.

"Jak, look after Rufas for me..." she gasped, her body shaking with pain. "D-don't let him...don't...let him f-forget me..."

"I won't," he whispered, emotion making his voice quake. He was numb all over, barely feeling Jakuelynn's body in his arms. _This can't be happening. Not this. Not now._

She fought to regain control of her breathing, whimpering as the mild storm struck her burns. "Is...is Rufas s-safe?"

He looked at the little boy, who by now was standing a little way away from him and Jakuelynn, safe in Damas' arms, unsure of what to do. "He is, Nelly. He's alive and well,"

"No...s-scratch? No h-hurt?"

"No scratch. No pain," Jak affirmed, struggling to not let emotion get the better of him. The warrioress' breathing was raspy, her grip slacking. With one arm, he attempted to feel around in his bag. "Just hold on, Jakuelynn, I think I still have some health packs left – "

"Jak!" she rasped, trying and failing to move to stop him. "I w-want you...to do some things for me. Last requests..."

"A-anyth-thing," Jak choked, eyes uncharacteristically filling with tears.

"Fix what's...what's torn..." Her breathing was thinning, wheezing, failing. She let out a scared whimper. "Fix what's t-torn and tell Rhogan...what I n-never could..." She cried in terror. "God, Jak, end this! Just...k-kill me. Please."

He shook his head in disbelief. _No. Not again. Please, please don't make me_.

"I know..." she rasped, rolling gently back onto the clay, "I know...it's K-Keira...all over again. But please. End my life. S-Save my children. Either that...or we b-both die." She shuddered as her body began failing, tears mingling with the bed of blood she laid upon. "I'm s-scared..."

The Rakeli's words from the Perdennine Mountains flashed into Jak's mind.

_And you, time warrior..._

"No," he choked. "Jakuelynn...I can't. I can't k-kill you,"

"Please!" she yelled, taking in a deep, struggling breath. The tears coursed down Jak's face before he could stop them; the first battle he lost, and it was with himself. With a great weight upon his breaking heart, he raised himself and then the Morph – on the Blaster setting, _her favourite_ – and shakily pointed it at her head, view obscuring by his emotions.

_Your soul will be tested._

"I love you, Dad," she whispered, the light in her green eyes failing.

"I love you t-too, Nelly." Jak's own voice was failing under the weight of emotion, especially when he realised she'd just called him "Dad". "You're always my baby girl."

_Her father's life, her mother's death..._

"Thankyou," she breathed.

"C-c-close your eyes, Nel," he croaked as if speaking to a child, struggling to steady his hold. _Oh Nelly, darling, I love you. I know I shouldn't, not even in my own head... _"I d-d-don't want you to see this..." _Stay with me, Nel. Please. Give Samos, Damas and myself more time with you. Give _Rhogan _more time, he loves you beyond measure. Stay and raise your son, just like you always wanted!_

"Okay, Daddy," she breathed, sounding so much like her mother it cruelly twisted Jak's breaking heart. She turned her face to the sky, closing her eyes. Jak took his aim and after what felt like a long time, he fired, seeing, smelling, touching nothing, only hearing the sound of the bullet exiting the gun and his daughter's small death-gasp as the bullet entered her body.

When he opened his eyes, she was completely still.

Jak dropped the gun and to her side, held her tightly, continuing to rock her back and forth until her destroyed body went limp in his arms, all natural activity within her ceasing completely, save for the Light Eco he unknowingly transferred to her, which instead of healing her flooded her womb, protecting her unborn children. It was only after the last beat of her heart that the barrier to his emotions broke completely. His own body shook as tears flooded from his eyes, sobs escaping from his mouth for the first time in thirty years.

Damas couldn't look away from his father and sister, the older man knelt on the floor, clutching Jakuelynn's still body. The Sage managed to restrain the toddler from running to his mother, distress filling his heart. Telling Rufas to stay, he crossed the sand softly, reaching his father and sister – whom he now knew was dead – quickly. He knelt by them, wanting to comfort Jak, but was unable to. He did not know this side of his father and therefore did not know how to deal with it.

In the middle of Senzanome, the debris settling and the storm stopping as the day faded and stars decorated the night sky, Damas could merely watch as his father grieved over the daughter he'd known only briefly in the context of his lifetime...and twelve out the twenty-nine years of her own lifespan.

In that moment, the middle-aged man understood everything about the relationship Jak and Jakuelynn had.

In that moment, Jak Mar's scarred and battered soul shattered into a million pieces, the storm scattering them all around Senzanome and further on. This was later reported to have caused a small disturbance in the balance of the universe, allegedly felt most sharply by Spargan and Sandoveran citizens, whom instinctively knew that something was wrong in the world.

"Father..." Damas said softly, not expecting Jak to hear it.

"Damas," Jak replied roughly, not moving an inch except to lay his dead daughter down, "take Rufas back to the car and make sure he doesn't see this,"

Seeing the purple lightning crackle around his father's body, Damas quickly complied. With an agonised roar, Jak's Dark side exploded into view and he charged into the ruined hideout. Knowing what was coming, Damas covered Rufas' ears as screams built to a crescendo, along with the horrific sounds of flesh being ripped from the bodies of anyone who was still alive – which were a surprising amount, judging by the length of time Jak was in the Service headquarters. Mercifully, it was over quickly. Jak stumbled out, back to normal but up to his neck in blood, a devastated look on his face.

"Mama!"

This shot in the night was uttered, to the amazement of Jak and Damas, from little Rufas, whom had somehow broken free and had run to his mother's body. He lay down on his mother's body, pulling her arm around him and, wrapping his little arms around her, squeezed his eyes shut.

"Rufas..." Damas began.

"Save dem," he pleaded.

"Your brother and sister?"

He shook his head.

"Who then?" Damas said in frustration.

"Babies," Rufas replied after a length of time. "Sisters. Save dem."

Damas felt his mouth dry as he realised what Rufas was getting at. _Jakuelynn was having little girls. The daughter she'd desired...and she never knew._

"Damas, quickly, we got to get back to Sandover and save those twins,"

His father's voice. Dry. Cracked. _Broken, just like his spirit._ Damas did not hesitate as he helped his father lift his sister's body back to the car, driving until he found the teleport ring. With a deep breath, the group stepped into it, and the spiritual disturbance caused by Jakuelynn's death was smoothed over in Senzanome once again.

**http:/ mashakosha. deviantart. com/ art/ Jakuelynn-Mar- Hagai-189038196**


	32. 31 Songs in 31 Days

**A/N: Well...wow...I...was...I...just...wow at you guys' reactions. Especially you, JKA, miss "I rarely cry at fanfics". Shit, you guys. I'm stunned and complemented at the same time. Thankyou. Although when I said "FINAL CHAPTER!", I did mislead you slightly. I'm sorry. Read, review...Epilogue up tomorrow. Which is really, really weird. And now...some Rhogan action. BTW, I have actually cast real actors for my OCs – given that I wrote this trilogy like a film, it kinda makes sense. Rhogan is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. You don't know who he is? You should. That is all. :P ~ Mika**

In Sandover City, a knock on the door broke Rhogan away from the conversation he was having with Torn.

"Sir! Sir!"

"Yes, come in!" Rhogan shouted almost breathlessly, heart pounding in fear and excitement, wondering what news the courier had to bring.

"It's the Mar family, sir," the young woman before him said breathlessly as she entered the room and pushed the door to behind her. "They've returned,"

"They're back?" Rhogan yelped unprofessionally. "With Rufas? Are they all right? Is Jakuelynn OK?"

The woman squared her shoulders. "Prince Rufas is healthy. He hasn't been hurt. It's just Princess Jakuelynn – Sir! You're hurting me!"

"What? What's happened to Jakuelynn?" Rhogan yelled, panic searing his body.

"Rhogan, calm down!" Torn said firmly.

"Sir...you need to go to Sandover General," the woman gasped. "The Maternity ward. Prince Jak...Jak wants to speak to you,"

Rhogan felt his internal organs drop in dread, his mind cloud in confusion. _Oh, Precursors. This doesn't sound good._ He cleared his throat. "Th-thankyou," he stuttered to the poor woman in front, who turned and fled without another breath.

The City Leader turned to his father, who was now stood up, leaning on the table. "What is it? Is Jakuelynn OK?"

"Hold the fort, Dad," Rhogan gasped, throwing on a thick coat. "I'm going to see what's going on,"

~x~

Jak had not been in the morgue since Deimin had died, so he had forgotten how cold it was. Although he loved Damas to the ends of the earth and back again twice over, he had a particular bond with Jakuelynn that had been forged over the twelve years since he had laid eyes on her, aged eighteen, dressed in prison rags and with dyed black hair. It was, dare I say, stronger than the one with his son.

They had managed to save her twins – both girls, both very small – but had not managed to revive her, no matter how much Jak pleaded until his throat was raw. He wondered why he had bothered speaking at all.

Absent-mindedly, he brushed a lock of green/blonde hair off his daughter's pale, cold face. He didn't feel a thing internally. External feeling, however, had returned. Daxter was outside waiting, but for once, Jak couldn't hear his voice. He was unsure as to how this made him feel – on the one hand, Daxter's chatter was a comfort in the darkest of times, on the other, in long, agonised moments such as this one, he wanted to drill his ears until he was completely deaf. He thought about Rufas, whom had not spoken since his heartbreaking outcry of "Mama!".

"His first word, little one," he murmured, "and you didn't hear it. He's...he's not a mute. Not like I was..."

Suddenly, he realised just how much her life reflected his own; his first eighteen years in her whole twenty-nine. He also realised as he looked at her on the gurney that there was a red scar running down the middle of her left shoulder, where flesh had been replaced with cybernetics. _How have I not noticed that before?_, he thought to himself dully.

Covering his daughter back up with the white sheet, he planted a long kiss on her forehead and stroked her hair. He forced himself to turn around and walk out the morgue in the direction of the Intensive Care Unit, going, as he himself noted, from death to life. Daxter hopped back onto his shoulder as he passed, but still said nothing.

_Sleep well, little one. You've earned it._

He closed his eyes as his heart shattered like a glass window all over again.

~x~

Rhogan dived into the hospital but was stopped before he could go any further.

"You're here for Ms Ghosten?"

Rhogan nodded, knowing exactly whom she was talking about; knowing that Jakuelynn had not changed her name back to Hagai in the last four years. "How did you know? Is she all right?"

"Her father requested that you be shown to the Intensive Care Unit upon your arrival. May I see identification?"

The City Leader produced the appropriate identification. The nurse nodded.

"Come with me."

As Rhogan followed the woman to the Intensive Care Unit, he wondered why his questions hadn't been answered. His heart thrummed faster and faster as every possibility and impossibility flew into his mind, the worse ones sticking to his brain like glue. _Is she dead? A vegetable? Pregnant? Possessed? What? Why does nobody tell me anything?_

Suddenly, the woman stopped and Rhogan almost crashed into her. She stepped aside and he thanked her, his heart sinking as he saw Jak. He was standing by two cribs, gazing at them, not moving.

A heavy silence fell across the room. Rhogan cleared his throat. "Sir...I...understand you wanted to see me."

"I do," the veteran warrior replied coldly. Something in his tone made Rhogan frown.

"Is...is Jakuelynn...is she okay?"

"No," Jak shot back, stinging the City Leader. "No thanks to you." He looked up, meeting the young man's eyes for the first time. "She's dead, Rhogan. She was killed. Shot."

Rhogan's knees buckled and he held onto the door frame for support. "Sh-sh-she's dead?"

"Yeah." Jak walked between the cribs and got nose-to-nose with the former lawyer. "Here's some news. She was pregnant as well. With YOUR children. Your daughters." He gesticulated to the cribs behind him.

"She was pregnant?" Rhogan gasped, suddenly feeling very light-headed.

"Yes, and YOU let her go out there!" Jak shouted, a feeling that he was being unreasonable creeping into his gut.

"I wouldn't have been able to stop her if she did!" Rhogan roared, face heating up in fury. "You know as well as I do what she was like. She didn't listen to anyone. She WANTED to go and find her son of her own accord!" A low, unbidden growl sounded in his throat. "You know what she was like..." His voice suddenly broke, tears warming his eyes. "If I'd known she was pregnant...if..."

The veteran turned away, not saying a word. "She loved you."

Rhogan pressed his palms to his eyes as tears spilled from them, not wanting to let Jakuelynn's father – the man whom his family repeatedly hurt and betrayed over the course of the last forty-four years – see them. "What?"

"She told me before she died to tell you what she never could." Jak's shoulders heaved, tone more placid. "She told me to tell you that she loves you."

At those words, Rhogan did not manage to suppress the tears enough even as he walked what felt like the green mile to his newborn twins, letting Jak's words sink in. Seeing them surrounded by machinery flashing and beeping, keeping them alive, he let the tears fall.

_Jakuelynn loved me..._

"Take care of them, Rhogan Lacolonna," Jak said roughly, voice barely reaching his ears. "Take very good care of them. If I find out you haven't, you'll wish you'd died in the place of my _daughter_,"

"I wouldn't hurt them, Jak Mar," Rhogan replied, voice as rough and cold as the 59-year old's. "I'm no Yuhmer. If you don't know me by now, after four years – _four years_ – of dating your daughter, you'll never know me." He sat in the seat next to one of the cribs and put a hand in one of the holes. Gently, he took his daughter's tiny hand between his finger and thumb, face screwed up in an attempt to control his emotions.

"She was born first," the sixth-and-seventh-time-over grandfather explained. "They got her out first. Seven minutes ahead of the little one behind you."

"Fine," Rhogan said, tone icy. _I didn't want to know that_.

The veteran took a deep and shaky breath. "If you want to see...to see J-Jakuelynn, she's in the morgue."

The City Leader nodded, not taking his eyes off the baby in front of him. She was probably small enough to fit in his hand, but already he saw a faint cap of green hair covering her scalp. It was the same for the other twin.

_You'll never die, Jakuelynn. Not while the blood ties you forged are unbroken._

He smiled_._

_I love you too, baby._

~x~

_**Two years later**_

Jak picked a now six-year old Rufas up from school as normal, only instead of going back to the normal home, he diverted to Damas' house. He stopped the vehicle, climbed out the car and knocked on the door. Damas answered, looking as fresh and bright as if he was on the way out to work.

"Father?" he gasped. "What brings you here?"

"I'm just dropping Rufas off," he croaked. Damas looked at his father properly and saw with a shock how much he had aged in the last two years. It was no fault of the 37-year old – Jak rarely ventured out the house except to take Rufas to school and back, and even then he kept himself anonymous. He was now sixty-one years of age, but he looked as if he was nearing eighty.

"Dropping Rufas off? Father, what are you doing?"

"Day..." he began, voice lifeless. "I have to do this. Me and Dax. We're going out. We may be a while."

Damas swallowed, forcing a lump down his throat. Just then, Sara appeared behind him, arm over her heavily pregnant stomach. Jak looked away, the sight reminding him too much of the daughter he'd lost. The 39-year old woman looked at her husband with sadness in her eyes, slipping her hand into his. He squeezed back, looking back at his father, pleading with his eyes.

"Have you said goodbye to Rhogan, Samos and Lilya?" he asked.

"Keira, Jakuelynn and baby Ashelin too," he said. As Rufas had predicted, Ashelin Mar Praxis had died at just a few days old from heart failure, leaving her twin sister Lilja to be raised alone by their father and grandfather. It was further heartache for the veteran warrior, whom had not only begun the healing process with Torn but attempted to improve relations with Rhogan.

Suddenly, the Sage was seized with an urge, which he followed for the first time in his life.

"Father, don't go. Don't...I know...I know Jakuelynn's death affected you, but it affected us all. You've still got five grandchildren who need you and another on the way. You've still got me. I realise that I am not, nor will I ever be Jakuelynn...but..." He sighed, his body dropping, knowing this was one fight he wasn't going to win. "Father, stay. Please."

Jak shook his head, his blue eyes dull, sorrowful. After what felt like a century, he lifted his eyes to meet his son's own blues, giving a smile that did not reach them. "I do wish you wouldn't call me 'Father', Damascus," he said softly, absentmindedly. "It sounds so formal." He turned to his grandson and bent down, that same smile still fixed to his face. "And you, little one...look after your aunty, uncle and cousins for me. Promise?"

Rufas nodded.

"Good." Jak reached around his neck and unwound his dusty red scarf, miraculously untouched even after years of use. He lifted it off his neck and gently placed it around his grandson's, along with the faithful goggles that had remained on his head for over half a century. He straightened up and turned back to the car. His own heart breaking, Damas and Sara were unable to take his eyes off the pair, bonded by soul, as they got into the vehicle and roared off, not looking back once.

That was the last time I, or any of us, saw Jak and Daxter ever again. The last I'd heard of them, they had left the city and gone into the Wasteland. For what reason, nobody ever knew, not even I. And I was well versed in matters of the soul. I knew Jak's was irreparably broken after easing Jakuelynn's pain.

All anyone knew was that they never returned.


	33. 32 Footsteps, I Counted Them Myself

"So now you know everything about your mother. The day my father found her, the time when she lost your father and had you and the day she died. That's...all that was written. All that was told."

For a long time after Damas stopped speaking, I found I couldn't breathe or think. Words gathered in my throat but were denied access to logical thinking and my tongue. All I heard was the eternal flow of water coming from various points around what was known as the Throne Room in Spargus Palace. My uncle and closest advisor's eyes were a sad, teary blue – the shade of blue I now knew was one of many legacies of my grandfather. Talking about my mother, twenty years after she died, still broke his heart the way it broke my grandfather's.

Even though I had been told the answer, I had to ask. "Was...my grandfather that badly affected by my mother's death?"

Damas nodded. "I think it's not going to be too much of an exaggeration to say that his spirit shattered after long years of emotional scarring that day. Losing Jakuelynn...losing your mother twelve years after finding and bonding with her broke him. He was never the same again, and you reminded him so much of her, he couldn't take it."

A weight settled on my shoulders and I shifted uncomfortably. "How?" I asked, a little confused. "I don't even look like her..."

My uncle's aged eyes locked onto my own young ones. "No. You look like your father, which is another reason she fought so hard to save you from whatever The Voice and his Service were planning to do to you. But you had her spirit, her determination, her manner...in personality you were the image of her."

I looked down at my feet. "And Rhogan Lacolonna? What happened to him?" I asked.

Damas sighed, his eyes crinkling as he cast his mind back. "He was never the same again either. He continued ruling Sandover and raising your half-sister til the day he died, a few months before you came of age and ascended to the thrones. He loved your mother more than he could breathe."

"What happened to my sister? Lilya? Were we close?"

Damas shrugged more graceful than that gesture typically allowed. "She disappeared years ago; where to, nobody knows. Either way, it broke Rhogan when he found out she'd gone."

I nodded. Tragedy of that scale had not touched my memory long enough to linger, but I could only imagine what it would be like to experience that. "A lot of people were affected by my mother's death," I reflected softly, perhaps a major understatement.

Damas smiled at my reflection. "Yes. As many people loved your mother as others hated her,"

"I'm not surprised!" I exclaimed. "You don't do what my mother did and I do without making enemies along the way."

My uncle chuckled his agreement, nodding. Just then, a beautiful, young, red-headed and heavily pregnant young woman crossed the room and sat down on the throne next to me. My heart lifting as it always did when I saw her, I took her hand and caressed it with my thumb. Her eyelids fluttered, closing over her dark blue eyes. I also noticed the way my uncle's face creased a little with pain when he saw her. About fifteen years ago, my aunt and cousins were killed in a car accident just days before Oreyn was due to turn eighteen and claim the Spargan-Sandover thrones. Months before, Rapace had succumbed to the Dark Eco poisoning his system, having not inherited the Channeller abilities needed. I still do not like to remember those years, the same as my uncle.

"Lily, my love," I said softly, in the present day. Her golden eyes looked at me. "You look worn out. Go to bed and I'll be with you shortly,"

"But Rufas," she said in her soft tone. "Do you not have further business to attend to? The defence plans for Spargus..." She trailed off, rubbing her eyes.

I smiled at her, my wife for barely three years. The woman I'd known since adolescence; the one whom appeared as my future wife in my visions as a child. I put my hand on her swollen belly, where my heirs were preparing themselves for the world. Yes, heirs. I had already seen them in visions of late – a black-haired, blue-green eyed boy and a red-haired, black eyed girl. I knew their names, knew their whole lives. I also know what will happen just over three hundred years from now, when my family's reign is disrupted by a traitorous worm, and the lost heir from a place in the past tied to my cities eventually restores this reign. They say history repeats itself in the end, especially if one includes the complications of time-travel.

My wife nodded, linking her slender fingers with mine briefly. When I was away from the city, either defending it or taking my half-year in the politics and dealings of Sandover, HRH Queen Lily Mar (I had publicly, but not legally, dropped my father's surname upon taking the throne) had always proved adept in the running of Spargus and vice-versa. At this moment in time, she gave me a small, intimate smile and pushed herself up. My uncle helped her to her feet and she nodded her thanks, crossing the room and leaving through a door on the far right.

"Damas..." I began, but once again the words choked up in my throat.

"Yes, Rufas?" he said softly, as calm as he always was. Losing his family had not changed him in the way it changed my grandfather. I frequently and secretly admired how laid-back my uncle was and often wished I could be like that when I was younger, having inherited the Mar temperament.

"Thankyou," I said, the words sticking in my throat. "Thankyou...for telling me the truth about my mother."

"Has it changed your perception of her?"

"I no longer believe she would ever have abandoned me, if that's what you mean?" I replied.

Damas nodded. "Jakuelynn was never that sort of woman. If she felt strongly for you, or if you were family, she would never leave you to the Metal Heads. Precursors know she'd saved my life enough times,"

I smiled, looking at the time. Almost twenty-four hours. It _was_ late.

"I trust there's no more I need to do?"

"No, Rufas," Damas quietly replied. He was one of the few people whom were permitted to address me by my given name in private. "Nothing that must be done now."

I got up, resting my eyes on the door my wife had just left. "Then I will join my wife for the night. Goodnight, Damas, and thankyou again."

My uncle rose with me and gave a little bow. "It's no problem at all, Rufas. You of all people deserve to know the truth about your mother."

I smiled, exiting the Throne Room and taking my armour off, hanging it from its usual display and shutting the doors. It was one of many heirlooms I'd inherited upon turning eighteen, along with the thrones of two cities. No small thing, I suppose.

~x~

Damas left the throne room not long after his nephew did, exiting the palace entirely. He went to his usual place and picked up a small bunch of flowers that he had bought and had reserved for him all day. Now Rufas knew the truth about his mother, Damas could visit her, tell her something he was finally able to.

He made his way to the catacombs and climbed into the vehicle that would carry him to his sister and family, reaching Sandover City in no time at all. He barely thought as he made his way across the city. He knew the way like the back of his hand; Precursors knew he'd trodden this path often enough in the twenty years since Jakuelynn died, and in the fifteen since Sara, Oreyn, Kieron, Jayelle and Serena had followed. He finally reached the graveyard in which his sister, grandfather and ancestors before him were laid to rest, as was the custom of the clan. There was a space where his father's remains would be buried, assuming, of course, that they were found. The Wasteland was as known for hiding as it was for uncovering lost artefacts and people.

"Jakuelynn," Damas began softly. Her name echoed in the large cavern, which sent a small chill running up the Eco Sage's spine. "Sister, you can rest. Your son knows the truth. I apologise for the time it has taken. It was only recently that Rufas was ready, but know that I never withheld anything from him. He simply did not ask. Until his recent birthday, he did not want to know."

No response. The fifty-five year old took this as a sign that Jakuelynn understood this. He stood up and took a deep, cleansing breath.

"Jakuelynn Mar Hagai, Crown Princess of Sandover and Spargus, the Precursors called your name twenty years ago to this day and your spirit began its journey to them. Now, on this earthly abode, I permit your spirit to venture towards rest." He laid the small bunch of ghost flowers on her grave atop the rotted remains of previous collections that he had laid previously. "Nelly, I release you. Be free."

At the moment those words left his lips, he felt a warmth around him, as if he was being held by an invisible force. He smiled, a secret tear leaking from his eye, silently and spiritually embracing his sister's spirit. A warm glow filled him and he opened his eyes, seeing Jakuelynn there.

"Thankyou, Damas," she said, smiling. She didn't look a day over thirty as ever. The spirit of Deimin was by her side, his arms around her as always, two halves of a single soul. "Your debt has been paid. You owe me nothing. Go, and take care of Rufas as well as you've been doing for the past two decades."

The Sage gave a little bow. "I will." He closed his eyes and the glow left him. When he reopened them, he was once again alone. Without another word or thought, he turned and left the Tomb, the echo from the closing doors resounding long after he'd left.

~x~

_**Rufas**_

Before retiring to bed, I crossed to the large window that overlooked the entire city and the Wasteland. It always surprised me how peaceful the scene looked bathed in moonlight, considering it had been the places of so many battles and took the lives of so many people. There were no physical marks to echo these lost lives, but their presences and memories were felt and honoured in and around the cities touched by the wars that had taken place there.

For the first time in my twenty-four years, I felt a real respect for the world around me.

"Rufas?" Lily called sleepily. I turned, my eyes immediately finding her sleepy golden ones.

"I'm coming, my love," I assured her, shedding the rest of my clothes and sliding between the sheets and wrapping my arms around my wife, my hands resting on her bump. She uttered a little moan as I kissed her neck and was asleep within minutes whilst I lay awake for a while. I thought about my mother and what Damas had told me about her. She had barely made it to her thirtieth birthday, but established a timeless legacy along the way.

_Mother...if you hear me...help me to make the same impact as you by the time the Precursors call my name_, I prayed – not just to her, but to all my ancestors. _Help me to make the right decisions with my head and my heart, and to be a good and fair ruler for as long as I'm breathing._

Just as I finished my little prayer, a breeze blew in from the open window, disturbing the previously still air. It ran through my hair, cheekily tugging on a few strands of it. A chuckle escaped from my throat as the air became still again.

I closed my eyes, breathing in Lily's heart-stopping scent. Suddenly, I knew. I couldn't explain what I knew then – even now, I still cannot explain. My heart and head knew what my tongue could not explain. My instinct told me that what I unconsciously knew would strengthen me as a husband, leader and father.

My mother's last gift to me.

_Thank you, Jakuelynn._

"_What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand that I do not yet know?  
Too familiar is my dear son with such sour company."_

**THE END.**

**Wow, so...it's...the end of the trilogy. I must admit, when I typed that last sentence of Chapter 29 on Monday (6****th**** December), I was in a state of shock for 40 minutes. I got into another state of shock when I finished "Jak 3" today. Completed. As in, 100%. First one I have properly completed. So in a sense I've completed two trilogies involving long-eared blonde/green-haired, formidable warriors.**

**As my profile says, I'm gonna take off for a few weeks to a month or so whilst my next fanfic (which has been developing uncontrollably in my head for the last month) takes full and proper shape on Word. Meanwhile, I thank you guys from every millimetre of me for following this from its inception to its conclusion. If you have time or if possible, I'd like you to go into further detail in this review, especially you, Mysterious-Angel (JKA, I know you do detailed reviews anyway :P); excuse me if anything in this A/N makes me sound egotistical but it is not the intention. Anyway...what did you think of the trilogy overall? Favourite/ least favourite story? Favourite character? Favourite/ least favourite moment/ chapter? Any influences you saw? Etc. Things like that. If you genuinely cannot be specific then don't worry about it. :)**

**Have a good Christmas and New Year. See you all there! Thankyou again for remaining faithful to the trilogy. I'm genuinely humbled that you decided to follow a little set of three such as this. :3**

**Much love,**

**MikaHaeli8**

**PS: Just out of curiosity...Marneus and I are both on GMT. How many hours difference is there between us and you?**

**12/12/2010**


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